Christ walks this journey with us every step of the way. But it s a journey of going into the corners of our hearts and minds where we don t often go, and really don t like to go, and a journey of bringing the parts of ourselves we don t like or have ignored or feel ashamed of out into the light of Christ to be loved and cared for and transformed. When we have even a tiny glimpse of what it means to love ourselves, we can begin to have a glimpse of what it means to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us, to not judge, and to forgive. Now, this unconditional love that Jesus is talking about is not a sentimental, fluffy kind of love. It is not a love based on acceptability or goodness or lovability.
Unconditional love is unemotional, it s impersonal, and it s universal.
To love in this way does not mean we let people take advantage of us, that we don t set limits, or that we don t take care of ourselves. In fact if we do let others take advantage of us, if we don t set limits, if we don t take care of ourselves, we are not loving ourselves. And if we don t love ourselves, we don t love others. This unconditional love is a divine love that comes from a spark within us that we all have because we are sons and daughters of God. We are born with this spark of love.