To love God absolutely and our fellow man unconditionally Since Luke 10:27 actually says: "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself," and the same form is used in Mat. 22:38 and Mark 12:31, are you saying we ought to love ourselves, unconditionally? I do not think so, and do not believe to love your neighbor as yourself means "unconditionally."
You cannot love both good and evil, just as you cannot serve to masters, loving one and hating the other, one cannot love both God and God's enemies.
Psalms 139:21-22 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
To be Godly means to love and hate the things God loves and hates, and God hates the evil:
Psalms 5:4-5 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
And Paul wrote:
Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Because that which loves evil is a phoney love.
A little earlier, betty boop described Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and Mao Tse-tung as "brutal, vicious dictators, the very spawn of Hell,' to which I certainly agree.
Do you believe we ought to love such "spawn of Hell," in the same way as we love God, our wives, our children, the decent, and the victims of such monsters?
I am curious because this "unconditional love" concept is so frequently used as way of covering up evil and of requiring us to pretend what is really evil is not. I know that is not your use of it, but I think it needs to be made clear what is meant by unconditional love, because most people think it means letting anyone get by with anything and still saying they are just lovely people.
Hank
This is so strange, Hank. You and I have had this conversation once before. You cannot envision unconditional love, and yet it flows through me from the Father. I would not stop it even if I could!
Since Luke 10:27 actually says: "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself," and the same form is used in Mat. 22:38 and Mark 12:31, are you saying we ought to love ourselves, unconditionally? I do not think so, and do not believe to love your neighbor as yourself means "unconditionally."
Indeed, loving “your neighbor as yourself” is the meaning of the verse you quote. Unconditional love is my bar. It may not be the bar for another Christian. But it is both exhilarating and empowering - and I highly recommend it!
You cannot love both good and evil, just as you cannot serve to masters, loving one and hating the other, one cannot love both God and God's enemies
I don’t love evil. I love God, I love the beings He has created. I love people. The first roadblock to unconditional love is judgment. Whereas we are to judge the matters of life, we are advised against judging other beings:
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2 Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. - Matthew 5:7
The other roadblock to unconditional love is resentment. If a Christian refuses to forgive, he will likewise not be forgiven by God (and his prayers will be hindered):
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive [them], and ye shall have [them]. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. – Mark 11:24-25
You asked whether I love the ‘very spawns of Hell’:
A little earlier, betty boop described Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and Mao Tse-tung as "brutal, vicious dictators, the very spawn of Hell,' to which I certainly agree. Do you believe we ought to love such "spawn of Hell," in the same way as we love God, our wives, our children, the decent, and the victims of such monsters?
I don’t stop with forgiving people their trespasses against me. I follow Christ's command and Job's lead and pray for them, including prayers that God will forgive them as well. I love all beings - even while sometimes hating what they say or do. And yes, I pray for the same good things for those who are my enemies that I pray for my dearly beloved husband and daughter.
Long ago a man did a terrible thing to me, so bad that I did not know how to forgive him. My brother suggested that I pray for this man every night right after praying for the family, all the same good things. He said I wouldn’t mean it at first – but if I kept it up, I’d be able to truly forgive. He was right.
Now I always pray for family, friends, associates and enemies. I pray for Bush and I pray for Osama bin Laden – the same good things: a saving knowledge of Christ, growth in the Word, protection and guidance in the spirit, soul, mind, emotion, body and peace.
After all these years, the love flows through me with no strings attached – and forgiveness is virtually automatic.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. - Matthew 5:44-48
On my experience, true freedom and true strength come with unconditional love - because when we abide in Him - there is no place for self-pity, resentment and pride.
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. – I John 4:16