Do you love people unconditionally? Do you find it hard to love sometimes because of a spouse who says hurtful things? A disrespectful child who thinks he/she is wiser than you? Friends who don’t call to see how you are doing? People who forget to say thank you? There are countless ways that people daily can leave us feeling wounded, angry, disappointed, and unloved. To continue to love them hurts sometimes, and loving them unconditionally really requires the help and grace of God!
When we feel hurt and disappointed by others, we want someone to understand, to care, to empathize with us, and to comfort us. I hope to be a person like that in your life! I have been hurt and disappointed so much my whole life. Probably, we can all say that. I want you to know that I really care about your pain. I go through my own pain and disappointment almost daily. However, I have found that God is the best One for understanding our pain and caring! Sometimes we want someone to listen to us. Not to fix us. Not to lecture us. Just to care. Again, I hope to be a person like that in your life. Please email me with your prayer requests! I want to comfort you and pray for you! I don’t earn money for ministering. I don’t sell books or CDs or charge money for meetings. I do it for God and you! While I want to be your friend, God is the One who is always there for you! He cares the most; and He is always available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 or 366 days per year, every year, forever! When I say God, this includes the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and no one else!
Reading about Jesus in the Song of Solomon is Comforting
Do you love people unconditionally? That is a tall order! I find great comfort in reading the Song of Solomon in the Bible. I spend a lot of time meditating on these scriptures and finding consolation in that book. It comforts me greatly to know that we Christians, I included, are engaged to Jesus Christ the Lord! He is the only perfect Man! He is the only human, who is also God, worthy of adoration and worship! Everyone else will disappoint us at some point or die on us. I want to share a passage from the Song of Solomon that comforts me when I am finding people falling short of the glory of God in my life! (See Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, I included.) It is found in Song of Solomon 5:10-16. It is about King Solomon, who is a type of Jesus. These things can best be said about Jesus, our Beloved:
My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweetsmelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Jesus is the Perfect Human and Understands Our Sorrows
Do you love people unconditionally? Firstly, we are told Jesus is “white”–this means He is pure. It is not a reference to nationality. He is ruddy–this word is related to the Hebrew word for blood. It means our Beloved took on flesh and blood as a human, which Christians celebrate as Christmas. Our Beloved suffered on earth. It was prophesied of Jesus in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” My friends, Jesus on earth was a man of sorrows. Undoubtedly, He still bears many sorrows although in His Presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). He was despised, rejected of men, and acquainted with grief. He suffered dishonor. He knows all about the sufferings you are facing. He has “been there and done that”! No human understands you better than Jesus! You are sharing sorrows with Him; and if you are faithful to follow Him and repent when you fail, He will bond you closer to Himself through all you endure!
Jesus’ is Totally Pure and Wonderful!
“His head is as the most fine gold.” This means that His head, His authority, is totally pure and wonderful! He is the righteous Judge! He is our perfect Bridegroom!
“His locks are bushy, and black as a raven.” He has eternal youth in His glorified body! He doesn’t have gray hair (or wrinkles)!
Jesus Has Amazing Eyes Lovingly Fixed on You!
Do you love people unconditionally? “His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.” He has the most gorgeous eyes ever! They are eyes of love, holiness, concern, and compassion. He looks at you from heaven with His incredible eyes with loving and holy concern and compassion for you! He admires your likeness to Him! Won’t it be incredible one day to look into those amazing eyes and see Jesus face to face?! Every human will one day do this. Let us belong to Him now and follow Him closely so that when He judges us, it will be a rewards ceremony! His eyes are washed with milk. They are very white. They are not stressed eyes. They are perfect and rested! His eyes are fitly set. They are put in His glorified head just right! They are lovingly fixed on you as He longs for your company and prays for you in all your hardship!
Jesus’ Lips Drip with Kindness!
“His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweetsmelling myrrh.” I love this verse so much!!! His cheeks are full of fragrant words, like sweet flowers! His lips drip kindness like lilies! Jesus will say the kindest things to us! He will encourage us and tell us how valuable we are to Him, no matter what others think, say, and do! He will undo the heavy burdens we carry and give us self-worth based on His love and not based our performance! He tells us in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Jesus’ words give us rest from the devil and demons, from heartache, from worry, from anxiety, and from the pressure of never measuring up. He loves you so very much!!! Submit to Him, and He will delight your soul with His comforting words! Do you love people unconditionally? He will encourage you and help you!
Jesus’ Lips Drop Sweetsmelling Myrrh
“His lips drop sweetsmelling myrrh.” Myrrh in the Bible was used to purify, as in Esther and the other women being purified physically to possibly marry King Ahasuerus (Esther 2:12), and to embalm the dead. Jesus’ words from the Bible and spoken by the Holy Spirit to our hearts purify us and call us to take up our crosses daily and follow Him! Myrrh was a primary ingredient in the holy anointing oil. Luke 9:23 says, “And He said to them all, If any man wants to follow Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Do you love others unconditionally? This is one way we can take up our crosses daily and follow Jesus. When we are anointed with God’s Holy Spirit, which the anointing oil represents, we will get treated with “myrrh”, too! God will use the irritating, pain-causing people in our lives to purify our hearts and souls like myrrh! Thank God, He comforts us, too, as we saw above!
Jesus’ Hands Are as Gold Rings Set with the Beryl
“His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl.” Beryl is colorless, but impurities in it may color it green, blue, yellow, pink, and rarely, red. Jesus’ hands represent what He does. He is perfect in every way, including in all His actions! All He does is so beautiful, like gold rings set with beautiful beryl gems in them! Sometimes we disagree with Jesus’ actions in our lives. We think we know better. We want to be like God and tell Him what to do. We need to take these sinful, out-of-divine-order attitudes to Him and repent of them. God/Jesus are working His beauty into our hearts and lives through all our sufferings! Do you love people unconditionally? We may not see the beauty in the midst of the painful trials, including people who hurt us; but God is using it all for our good as it says in Romans 8:28: “For we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose.” If you gave your heart to Jesus and believe in Him for the forgiveness of your sins, He is using all of your trials to beautify your character! Submitting to God isn’t always easy, but He will help us. Submitting to our husbands and spiritual and natural leaders is even harder sometimes. But He will help us with that, too! 🙂
Jesus’ Belly Is as Bright Ivory Overlaid with Sapphires
Back to Song of Solomon: “His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.” Ivory is made from the tusks of elephants. To obtain ivory, one must kill an elephant. Poachers are not permitted in international law to kill elephants today. However, back in Biblical days, it was different. Ivory was owned by the rich. Jesus’ belly made of ivory speaks of His compassion for us! It was obtained by His own death on the cross and came at the most expensive price! However, His belly is overlaid with sapphires! Sapphires are blue in color, representing the heavenly realm. Jesus’ compassion is heavenly! We see the beautiful sapphires, His heavenly compassion honed by the cross and all His sufferings on earth; but we will never fully understand the ivory beneath, which is His own horrendous suffering on the cross. We couldn’t bear the full truth of it.
Jesus’ Legs Are as Pillars of Marble, Set Upon Sockets of Fine Gold
Do you love people unconditionally? Song of Solomon 5 says that “His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold.” Jesus has the most powerful legs that are like pillars of marble! Job 26:7 tells us “He [God/Jesus] stretches out the north [a possible reference to sky] over empty space. He hangs the earth on nothing.” The Father and Jesus hung the earth on nothing like an ornament without a tree! Jesus is the most powerful human! His strong legs hold up the universe with all its stars, galaxies, and planets, including the earth! He will hold you up so tenderly and easily, my friends! He has all the strength and power to change your negative circumstances, including healing broken and difficult relationships! He has so much strength to help you love people that challenge your ability to love! His legs are set upon sockets of fine gold! Gold represents the perfection and the divine nature! All His strength comes from His being God and the only perfect human who never sinned! He can easily help you, my friends; and He will! Your problems are “Easy, peasy” to solve, as we say in the United States! Turn to Him for help to endure your difficult relationships and watch Him heal them at the right time!
Jesus’ Countenance Is as Lebanon, Excellent as the Cedars
Continuing in Song of Solomon 5, “…his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.” His countenance, or face, is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars! Lebanon used to be known for its wonderful abundance of excellent, fragrant cedars! If you are not allergic to cedar, you probably love the fragrance or it, or you would if you could smell it! Certainly, you would find the sight of such a cedar forest refreshing! It would give you endorphins and make you happy! My friends, I think I can safely say there is no better sight in all of creation than the excellent face of Jesus!!! How I long to see that face!!! Do you? At the sight of that excellent face, all our sorrows will flee and seem insignificant on that wonderful day we finally get to see Him!!! –That is, if we are spiritually walking closely with Him! I can’t wait to see His mesmerizing face, y’all!!! He is the most fragrant with the Holy Spirit; and He, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit will make you the happiest! Do you love people unconditionally? Getting a spiritual glimpse of His face in your heart now will help you to do that!
Jesus’ Mouth Is Most Sweet, and He Is Altogether Lovely
Back to Song of Solomon 5, “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely.” Again, His mouth says the most inspiring, freeing, heartwarming, healing things to us! He is the altogether lovely One! He is the only perfect human! Christians, especially those who obey Him, have so much to look forward to in heaven when we are with the altogether lovely One, Jesus Christ! Yes, it will be wonderful to be reunited with parents, grandparents, children, friends, church members, and others whom we know who died in the Lord! Hallelujah! I would love to see my mother, my father, and my grandmother again! However, seeing the altogether lovely One, Jesus Christ, and knowing He is pleased with me is my greatest ambition in life! Is that yours? In the meantime, this altogether lovely One with His most sweet mouth is enough to keep us going when we find relationships difficult and painful!
Jesus Can Be Your Beloved and Friend
Do you love people unconditionally? Finishing up with Song of Solomon 5, “This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” If you are a Christian, spiritually like daughters of Jerusalem, Jesus is not only your Savior and Lord! He can be your Beloved! Is He? Are He, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit the greatest love of your life? Jesus considers Himself engaged to you, my fellow Christian friends! If you do not know Him, you can ask Him right now to live in your heart, and He will become your Savior from the penalty of sin which is the lake of fire. He can become your Lord and Beloved Bridegroom! He will also be your Friend if you keep His commandments in the Bible! In John 15:14, Jesus told us, “You are My friends if you do whatsoever I command you.” His commandments are contained in the Bible. We do not need another book to tell us His commandments. Any book that teaches us God’s will should only explain what is in the Bible but not add to it. (See a warning in Revelation 22:18-19.) Anything the Holy Spirit tells us will agree with the words in the Bible. If a voice speaks to us something contrary to the Bible or “new”, it is a lying spirit or a false prophet. We are told in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Do you want to be Jesus’ friend? Then follow His commandments. One commandment Jesus Himself gave us in John 15:1: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus loves us unconditionally! Do you love people unconditionally? He will help us to love people unconditionally, too, if we ask for His assistance! He will help us through His indwelling Holy Spirit!
We Have Great Hope to Find Victory in our Trials, and We Will Be with our Beloved Bridegroom Soon!
Why did I talk about Song of Solomon? I find great encouragement from the hope that we are soon going to be with our Beloved Bridegroom! Though people aren’t always as loving as Jesus, knowing that He is our Beloved, and we have a future of being with Him as His spiritual Wife offers me great consolation to keep pressing on in unconditionally loving others in obedience to Him! He is so wonderful even now! He loves us unconditionally now and will fill us with joy after enduring each trial! We find this hope in 1 Peter 5:10, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Do you love people unconditionally? God will give us grace to love others, including those who hurt and anger us! He will help us forgive if we ask Him to help us do that! After we have suffered a while, He will make us perfect (mature); He will stablish us, make us sturdy; He will strengthen us; and He will settle down our upset hearts and souls! We will find joy in the journey, including the journey of loving others!
Do you love others unconditionally? So, it isn’t easy to love unconditionally; but with the grace and love of God, we can do it! As a footnote, if someone is abusing you, you may need to get away from them altogether. I encourage you to seek earnestly the Lord’s mind in this situation! I had to get away from a toxic friend who kept rejecting me and wounding me repeatedly. My husband, Charlie, even forbade me to speak to her to protect me from further emotional damage. Also, if someone is tempting you to sin, you may need to get away from him or her, as well. I had to give up a friend who was tempting me. Some people you and I just have to love from a distance, and that is perfectly okay! God wants us to protect ourselves from dangerous people.
If you would like to delve more deeply into Song of Solomon to discover more about your heavenly Bridegroom Jesus, His loving thoughts about you, and our loving response to Him as His Bride, I invite you to read my husband’s, Charlie’s, and my commentary on the Song of Solomon found on my website. Here is the link:
A Romantic Journey With Jesus: Commentary On The Song Of Solomon – Bride Of Jesus Ministry
Many years ago, I once didn’t feel loved like I was wanted or understood by my church family. At another church, a biker prophet told me in response to this, “Love everyone with the love of Calvary. When you do, the waters will begin to flow through you like Niagra Falls.” This advice and prophecy changed my life! I made it my ambition to love with the love of Calvary everyone I came into contact with from that day forward. My friends, this advice is good for you, too! If you, by the help of the Holy Spirit, love everyone with the love of Calvary, the waters of God’s Word, the Bible, and His Spirit will begin to flow through you like Niagra Falls, too! If you would like to read more about my testimony and life, here is the link to my autobiography on my website:
A Little Person With A Big Testimony: My Autobiography – Bride Of Jesus Ministry
Here is a poem I wrote called, “To Have You, My Lord (When Thank Yous Are Few). People’s lack of thankfulness for my kindness has been a lifelong trial. This poem is #29 in my booklet Journey To The Promised Land found at:
Journey To The Promised Land – Bride Of Jesus Ministry
For your convenience, I have copied it here. Please also see the songs below this poem. God bless you, beloved! 🙂 If you are following Jesus, you are on the winning side! You can love people unconditionally with His loving assistance!
29. To Have You, My Lord (When Thank Yous Are Few)
Oh, what a great challenge to live in this day
With people so busy and many astray
When hardly a friend who will listen and pray
And scarcely a person who wants to obey
When people are chasing success to be whole
Relationships barely a purposeful goal
Commitments are shallow and shaky at best
So often discarded when put to the test
When challenge to faithfulness often decried
With critical comeback to cover their pride
When people too busy to find time to pray
Just hurriedly pushing to finish each day
Transparency feared and misunderstood, too
And shallowness valued but not really you
When thank yous are few, favors seldom returned
And feedback forgotten, true fellowship spurned
So crazy this place and so far from my home!
How can I keep giving when here made to roam?
But then I consider that You felt the same
Back then was not different, the world is still lame
Your loneliness bitter, Your fellowship slight
Your Father the only to strengthen with might
And, too, then I realize the privilege to share
Your sufferings, with You Your sorrows to bear
And, truly, the sorrows are making us one
As sweetly my nights are made bright by Your Sun
It helps me the depth of Your love better see
To taste of the bitterness You drank for me
And also, You open my eyes so I know
How through these afflictions You cause me to grow
My selfishness crucified, anger released
Whene’er I allow You to trade them for peace
You loved Your disciples e’en unto the end
You teach me to also be ever a friend
The pain it reminds me how much I need You
To strengthen the weary who feel like me, too
You tell me they’ll thank me on the other side
This age is for giving, to lay down my life
And You keep me going because You love me
My worth’s never measured… how others treat me
So wondrous, my focus becomes less on me
In sharing Your mercy on people in need
So, I’ll keep on giving when thank yous are few
Because I love people and greatly love You
Through suffering You’re forming Your nature in me
So that more Your beautiful bride I will be
And as You so suffered so that I’d be Yours
I, too, embrace suffering to have You, my Lord
Note: God has given me some faithful friends, praise His name!
Here is another, shorter poem I wrote called “Your Love, O My Lord”. It is #16 in my poetry booklet The Bridegroom and His Bride: a collection of poems based on the Song of Songs. I am reprinting it here for your convenience.
16. Your Love, O My Lord
Your love, O my Lord, is much sweeter than wine
No love is more precious, more fragrant than Thine
More intoxicating, more pleasing to me
Are You, my sweet Bridegroom, than any I see
Much fairer You are than the children of men
Your majesty swallows all kings’ who have been
Your beauty surpasses creation You’ve made
For next to Your splendor its beauty doth fade
God’s love through a man is a beautiful sight
Yet Your love to me makes it day versus night
The touch of a brother or sister is dear
Yet You are the One who is ever so near
I love You, my Lord, far surpassing than all
My heart yearns to hear from Your chambers You call:
“Rise up, O My love, My fair one, come away
And let Me embrace you ‘til breaking of Day”
O, kiss me, my King, with Your kisses so fair
Let’s gaze eye to eye in the place of the stair
Sustain me with raisins, with apples renew
My heart is so lovesick, I’m longing for You
I’m dark, but I’m lovely, I do not deserve
And yet, by Your mercy, You will not reserve
My King, yet my Lover, oh, how could it be?
That You, King of glory, take notice of me?
I want You, my Lord, will You still long delay?
My heart breaks with passion to see You one day
In spirit I know You; and yet, may I fall
At Your feet when You are revealed to us all
Note: In Solomon’s day, being “dark”, or tanned, was not considered attractive as it is in our day and country. We get “dark”, or “tanned”, by being exposed to the elements of a fallen world without being under the Lord’s shade, or covering (ref. Song of Solomon 1:6 “black” is used). Even so, it does not change who we are! Our sinful condition is merely a temporary condition. One day, He will completely deliver us from our sinful condition.
Here is a link to this poetry booklet:
The Bridegroom and His Bride – Bride Of Jesus Ministry
Here is a wonderful, encouraging praise and surrender song called, “Goodness of God”, sung beautifully and powerfully by Jenn Johnson. I love it so much, I am learning to play it on piano! 🙂
Here is a lovely, inspiring song about unconditionally loving others from Michele Wagner called “Patiently”:
Here is a lovely song from Twila Paris about her unconditional commitment to her husband in spite of marital challenges. I loved this song even before I got married!:
Here is an inspiring, catchy song by Danny Gokey that challenges me every time to love people unconditionally!:
Here is a super encouraging song by Michael Card called “Joy in the Journey”!
Okay, this is a lot of songs; but this one is an excellent and popular song in the United States about this topic of following Jesus and loving unconditionally. It is by Phil Wickham and is called, “The Jesus Way.” God reminded me to choose the Jesus Way today as I endeavor to walk out unconditional love in my relationships!