There is one very important thing about Father’s love that we have been conditioned in this world to not understand. It has to do with conditions and measurements. Everything in this world is limited by conditions and comes with some kind of measurement to define level or quantity. Because of that, there is nothing in this world that we can use to try to describe Father’s love.
Many of us struggle with the concept that Father’s love is not dependent on our behaviour. His love does not increase or decrease according to my thoughts or actions. His love is a constant. It is impossible for him to love me less or to love me more. He always desires the best for me. He always hopes that I will take what he gladly offers. His design is not to destroy me but to increase me. He has loved all of humanity since the beginning of time because he decided to, and he has never broken a promise. His word is the most solid thing in all of eternity. This removes the idea of measurement from his love.
The only thing we can measure with Father’s love is our revelation of it. Paul had written his hope that believers would be able to grasp how high, and deep and wide it is. This is very difficult for us to grasp because love in this world increases and decreases and often requires some kind of catalyst to increase or decrease.
Sometimes we compare Father’s love to a mother’s but this example falls very short. It is true that due to his love for us he will discipline us to increase us. Punishment takes away from us but discipline (correction) moves us toward a change that increases us. Mother’s don’t always get that right, nor do fathers. Sometimes we spend far more time punishing our children for our sake than we do correcting them for their strengthening and increase..
It is often the imperfections of a parent’s love that cause us to struggle with the understanding that there is no increase or decrease with father’s love and there are no conditions attached. Father loves the atheist as much as he loves me. Jesus went to the cross while we all were “yet sinners”. His death on the cross gave everyone the potential to become the children of God. The difference is that I accepted that free gift whereas others have rejected it. But neither of those decisions changed how much he loves each of us.
Love is not what is going to keep people out of hell. It is only the belief in and acceptance of Jesus’s loving act of redemption that will keep us from that fate. Father’s love also preserves our freedom to choose because love can only exist in the place of freedom of choice. The sad part about this is that the only limits on Father’s love is what we put on it.
Even with those who say they believe and accept Jesus’ loving act of redemption there exists a poverty of love because they are not willing to imagine that his love for them could be so great and constant. They limit him by their self-condemnation for their past and close themselves from receiving the greater part of the blessings he has prepared for them. Paul stated if Father did not withhold the Son from us, what lesser things would he deny us? This self-condemnation comes from people’s experience with punishment over correction, no matter if Jesus said differently.
It’s not always going to be sunshine and daffodils. We require a lot of discipline and building up. But even in those moments he wants us to live in the mindset of the “quiet waters” and “meadows” of where we walk with him in relationship. Paul tells us that discipline should never be a source of discouragement for us because it is actually proof of our “sonship”.
If you really want to walk in all that he has planned for you, trust that his love is unchanging, constant and unconditional. Such a mindset won’t change Father but it will certainly change you and allow you to see the Kingdom as it truly is, because trust is the mark of a loving child. Don’t allow the conditioning of this world to cause you to live a lesser blessing.
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