“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” Colossians 1:13

The war against love was failing. The rebellion against the dark empire’s anti-love laws refused to die. The ruler gathered his generals.

“Sir,” said one, “the rebels say the anti-love laws have no authority over them.”

The ruler exploded with rage. “No authority? I must be obeyed — or else!”

“Yes, sir,” we agree, “but they claim to live in a different kingdom now. They accept the Lord of Love’s authority only. The more we arrest them, the more they multiply.”

A coruscating fireball of wrath flashed out from the ruler. “Crush them! Find a way to stop this thing. Now!”

But how? It was proving not to be so easy. Then someone said, “I’ve got it. Instead of fighting against love, we need to celebrate it.” 

“Are you crazy?” the others asked. 

“Not all,” he replied. “It will be easy. We’ll tell them that love has to be repaid.” For example, “If you love me, then I will love you.”  Or, “I love you because you make me happy.” 

The rebels countered with their own idea: “Let love be genuine.” But really! Genuine? Yeah, right, as if that could ever happen!

They launched the attack immediately. Within weeks “conditional love” was being promoted everywhere: books, songs, television, and movies. It proved enormously popular. Real love was hard, too much sacrifice. This was selfishness with a new name, and people couldn’t get enough of it. Conditional love spread like a warm but toxic fog.

The ruler of the dark empire laughed and thought to himself: “Conditional love! At last, a strategy that might work.”

Lord, I want to love like You love. Fill me with Your Spirit. Lead me and teach me how my love can be genuine and real this week. Amen.

Take Action

“Let [your] love be genuine” (Romans 12:9). It will take the power of God’s Holy Spirit to do this. Learn how to breathe spiritually so you can walk in unconditional love:



Tags: Love