Does God expect unconditional love from us?

[Waacm]

I have been pondering this idea for a while now, and I believe that as we are, we cannot possibly love anyone one or anything unconditionally. There is always some kind of condition that would make us unable to love that person, even if that love only fails for a short while. That being said, what would be the condition that takes away our love for God? I know that in my life I have always prayed that I would never stop loving God, but honestly I don’t think I ever have. I have not seen, nor felt, love in my life.So, how can I return any love to a being I’ve never met? Someone who has never spoke to me, verbally? This is a rather big struggle in my faith. It makes me wonder why I even bother trying, and then I think “well you’ll go to hell if you don’t.” But then I think " I’d rather go to hell than pretending to love someone out of fear of hell." I could really use some positive words of wisdom from someone who has pondered this same thing? Or maybe someone could share how they can manage to love God, despite never hearing him, or seeing him, or touching him…

P.S. I have no question on catholic teachings. Of all that I know, I know that if any church is right about God, Roman Catholicism is correct. Even if I find it hard to follow, I know it’s right.

 

[Elishua]

Remember that love is an act of the will. You must decide to love God and base your life on that love. True love is not based on the way we feel. You should also try to find gratitude in your life. If you can find no other reason to love God, then love Him because of everything that he has given us. Think of Creation, the first covenant, Christ on the Cross, the Eucharist, Reconciliation, Heaven. Or you can look around you at trees, a warm breeze, a baby, a sunrise. These are gifts. We do not deserve them. The most important thing to do is pray. Go to Adoration of the exposed Sacrament if you can. Ask Mary to bring you closer to her Son.

God does not “expect” unconditional love from us. He knows our struggles. He knows our humanity. But still I think we should love Him as much as we can.

 

[DebChris]

“I am the vine and you are the branches, without me you can do nothing.”
Jesus commanded us to “love one another as I have loved you.” The reality is that we are not God and in and of ourselves we are incapable of the type of love to which we are called. With Christ Jesus, on the other hand, all things are possible.
The ten commandments can be summarized into two. (1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength: and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself.
Read the letter of John.
How can we love the God we have not seen unless we first love the brother we have seen?
Start with the commandment in which we are called to love our neighbor as our self. My love begins by first loving me. I am a daughter, a princess, of the most high God. If I love myself, I will take care of myself, eating properly, getting enough rest, and exercising. I will be generous to myself, not degrading myself or putting myself down because I do not meet some ideal body type.
Once I love myself, and take steps to care for me, I can reach out and start loving others. I can turn away from self pity and start to recognize the needs of those who surround me. When we begin to love and care for our brother and sister, when we see Christ in the stranger we meet on the street, then we are loving God.
How is any of this possible? By the power of the Holy Spirit which will not be denied anybody who asks for it. God calls us to relationship with Him. In order for any relationship to grow, it requires time and communication. Our communication with God is our prayer time. It is then that we can hear and respond to our Creator, receiving the strength and insight we need in order to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters. It is during prayer that we come to understand how deeply God loves us.
We love because God first loved us. Our love for ourselves and others becomes a response to the love that we have received from God.

 

[Catholic1954]

Look up a good accurate description of hell. Then meditate on the Passion of Christ and realize that he did THAT to save YOU from there. How can you not love someone who saved you from a fate worse than eternal death?

 

[Waacm]

Look up a good accurate description of hell. Then meditate on the Passion of Christ and realize that he did THAT to save YOU from there. How can you not love someone who saved you from a fate worse than eternal death?

Speaking of hell… I wonder how a loving God can sentence someone to be in eternal suffering forever if he loves them. I can understand him banishing them… or maybe just making it so they cease to exist in a painful manner (e.g. fire). Also, why would he allow us to see them from heaven? That’s pretty sick of God, having us see our family, and friends burning… forever.

I know I said I trust in what the church says in my first post, and I do, but I have never heard, in full, what the church says that hell will be… Is it forever? if it is forever, then the only explanation that I can think of that would be acceptable for God doing that is that he cannot uncreate something once it is created.

 

[Waacm]

Remember that love is an act of the will. You must decide to love God and base your life on that love. True love is not based on the way we feel. You should also try to find gratitude in your life. If you can find no other reason to love God, then love Him because of everything that he has given us. Think of Creation, the first covenant, Christ on the Cross, the Eucharist, Reconciliation, Heaven. Or you can look around you at trees, a warm breeze, a baby, a sunrise. These are gifts. We do not deserve them. The most important thing to do is pray. Go to Adoration of the exposed Sacrament if you can. Ask Mary to bring you closer to her Son.

God does not “expect” unconditional love from us. He knows our struggles. He knows our humanity. But still I think we should love Him as much as we can.

I see and understand what you’re saying, in fact what you’ve said has more meaning than you intended, but love is hard for me to grasp, esp. loving God, the person that supposedly holds everything together, and yet I’ve seen nor felt head nor hair of him. I can see love as being an act of the will like you said, but also I’ve always thought that love was an emotion, something we don’t easily control. I don’t even love my parents, I can hardly imagine loving anyone, let alone God. You know what I mean?

Also, Marian adoration seems like a wonderful idea, but if I don’t love God, how does Mary help?

 

[Elishua]

You will not see or feel God if you do not pray. Pray first and ask God to help you love Him. Ask Mary to help you love God. Practice humility and you will see the Spirit of God in your life. You can see God in the world around you if you look and pray. If there is a good priest you can talk to, talk to him about this.

 

[toastmachines]

You will not see or feel God if you do not pray. Pray first and ask God to help you love Him. Ask Mary to help you love God. Practice humility and you will see the Spirit of God in your life. You can see God in the world around you if you look and pray. If there is a good priest you can talk to, talk to him about this.

Amen to that~ I had been an unbeliever for most of my life; had it not been for humility, I don’t think I ever would’ve experienced God.