Unconditional Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NIV)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

As I write this, my pup, Nikos, is in my lap snoozing. He brings me great joy just by hanging around but the most treasured part about it is his unconditional love. He looks at me with his big dark eyes and sits faithfully and quietly by my chair if I don’t pick him up but he gets excited when I do. He doesn’t care if my hair is a mess or morning coffee breath is an issue; he just wants to be with me. Earlier, I put him on the bed so I could read and write more easily. He sat at the end with his eyes glued to my every move, not complaining but simply wanting to be closer to me.

Good days or bad days, Nikos loves me without question. Some days I make more time for him than others. He waits for me. Some days I don’t get around to spending any quality time with him other than TV snuggle time at the end of the day. He waits for me. His love and devotion doesn’t waiver. It isn’t based on what I do or don’t do. He doesn’t care a fig about how much money I don’t have or if my clothes are trendy or if I am popular with people or what my political views might be at the time. He loves me without hesitation or reservation. 

 
I think God gave us dogs as treasured companions and role models for unconditional love. He gave us His Word with it plainly written out what real love, His kind of love, looks like. And as a reminder, He gave us dogs was living examples of that which we need to aspire in loving others. His love is unconditional toward us and he wants us to love in the same way.