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September 28 – Loving Without Conditions · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  September 28th, loving without conditions.
• 0:07
  God teaches me to love others, not for what they give me, but for who they are.
• 0:11
  Ripple one, practical.
• 0:13
  Today I will care for others without expecting them to beat my needs or repay my kindness.
• 0:17
  Real love seeks and other persons good without keeping record of what is received in return.
• 0:23
  That kind of love brings freedom to both giver and receiver. Ripple 2 spiritual.
• 0:28
  As I follow Christ's example of self-giving love, the Holy Spirit teaches my heart to care without fear, control or selfish ambition.
• 0:38
  The father's love for me becomes the pattern for loving others with grace, patience, and genuine concern.
• 0:44
  Good morning everybody.
• 0:46
  I believe over the last couple days.
• 0:48
  At one point in time, I mentioned this passage out of 12 and 12, even the newest of newcomers finds undreamed rewards, as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who is even blinder than he.
• 1:00
  This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing.
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  He doesn't expect his brother or suffer to repay him or even to love him.
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  He then discovers by that divine paradox that this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not.
• 1:17
  And I think that's true, um, for me, is that when I give, I get, I get back way more than I ever give. And I have, uh, found that to be the case over and over and over again in my life.
• 1:32
  And I, you know, it's just the way I live today is that I try to give as much as humanly possible, but I start very importantly, I start my home and then at my job and then in the rest of the areas of my life, general population.
• 1:47
  I try to, um, given those in that very specific order.
• 1:52
  And I like in John 15. Versus 12 and 13.
• 1:56
  He says, my command, this is Christ saying, my command is this, love each other as I have loved you.
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  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
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  And I think a lot of times, especially when we're new to recovery, is that, you know, we may be the one guy that's new that has a car.
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  Or we may be the one guy that's new, that knows where there's a good solid meeting and can help his help his other people from wherever he is, get to that place.
• 2:27
  Or maybe we know somebody that has similar, has been wrecked in similar vessel, and we can help those people get together.
• 2:35
  And we just never know what, what we're doing where that, where that's concerned.
• 2:40
  And that, you know, when we practice this, you know, again, we're back to that expression of gratitude.
• 2:47
  Well, we practice these uh, these principles and these concepts in our life.
• 2:53
  You know, we are indeed expressing gratitude.
• 2:55
  You know, and we expect as we're expecting nothing in return by helping or being of service to somebody in our lives.
• 3:02
  Man, that's an absolute outward expression of gratitude.
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  And I like the, uh, you know, whenever I think about that like unconditional love.
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  This is pretty popular, but it, but it comes out of 1st Corinthians, uh, 13, and it starts on verse 4.
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  It says love is patient.
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  Love is kind, does not envy, does not boast.
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  It is not proud, it is not rude.
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  It is not self seeking.
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  It is not easily angered.
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  He keeps no record of wrongs.
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  Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
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  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.
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  Love never fails.
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  But where there are prophecies, they will cease, where there are tongues, they will be stilled, where there is knowledge, it will pass away, for we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect imperfect disappears.
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  When I was a child, I talked like a child.
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  I thought like a child or reasoned like a child.
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  And when I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
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  So when I think about that, like, when we talk about, um, going from being a child to man, you know, so I think about that from the 6th step in the 12 and 12 and it talks about it very specifically.
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  This is the one that separates the men from the boys.
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  And my ability to love unconditionally is compromised in the 1st 55 steps, 5 suggestions.
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  It's compromised because I haven't really cleared up by all the stuff yet.
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  I haven't really figured out or, you know, been directed by God and by another person that's helping me in this situation.
• 4:42
  I haven't really had those things straightened out and haven't passed through that triumphant arch of free man and capable of loving unconditionally, which I'm still not 100% capable of loving unconditionally, you know?
• 4:56
  I mean, I like to bake cakes, but I also like it when people tell me that my cakes taste good.
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  You know, and if I didn't get somebody to tell me at one point, every cake I made, man, your cake tastes good, I probably wouldn't bake cakes that much anymore.
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  So as a human being, I'm absolutely incapable of of this 100% unconditional love.
• 5:18
  But I can practice that.
• 5:20
  I can do my best to practice these things, which will help me to get closer to that ultimate goal.
• 5:28
  You know, and that is to be patient, to be kind, to not be envious, to not be boastful, to not be prideful, or rude, to not be self seeking, or easily angered, not to keep a record of wrongs, and not to delight in evil.
• 5:46
  And to protect, trust, hope, and persevere.
• 5:50
  And those are the characteristics of unconditional love, is that we continue to down this path, uh, based on this is this is Paul talking to the Corinthians.
• 5:59
  They get 2 they get 2 letters, by the way, which the way I see it is if Paul sends you a couple of letters, you're you're not acting right.
• 6:07
  But he's explaining to him here, he's like, this is the, this is the proper way to live, to love one another.
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  And this is how you do that, to avoid the pitfalls that come from, you know, walking around together on this planet, you know, is to keep these principles true to your heart.
• 6:23
  You know?
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  Unfortunately, there was only one that did do that, indeed, and that was Christ, and I always like, you know, man, I, I, uh, I look at that when I thought about this topic this morning, um, Man, I, you know, I have a really hard time not coming back to the crucifixion into Christ's passion.
• 6:45
  When I think about unconditional love, because that's the love he showed for all of us, for all Christians that have accepted him as their salvation.
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  That's that's the love that he showed for us.
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  And there's some pretty good examples of that.
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  You know, I mean, So after, you know, when they're bringing him up, and they're crucifying him, and he's got a thief on either side of him, and the soldiers have divided up his clothes by the casting the lots, his statement, his father, forgiven them, for they know not what they do.
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  And that tells me right there that he's looking at these people and he's saying, I love these people because he's asking for the ultimate forgiveness.
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  Because at this point, these people have beat him.
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  And humiliated him and spit on him and pulled his hair out and shoved a crown of thorns on his head and hit him with a staff.
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  And, you know, caught him the king of the Jews and laughed at him and spit at him and do all the, did all those terrible things.
• 7:50
  And, you know, he's, he's, he's crucified with criminals, you know, and uh, one of the criminals who hung there, and this is in uh, Luke 23 verse uh, 39.
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  It says one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him.
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  Aren't you the Christ?
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  Save yourself and us.
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  is what they asked.
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  But the other criminal rebuked him.
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  Don't you fear God, he said, since you're under the same sentence, we were punished justly.
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  So they had been punished for their crime.
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  Whatever had happened to be.
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  Apparently they were thieves, because this is called the thief on the cross.
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  We're punished justly for getting what our deeds deserve this, but this man has done nothing wrong.
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  Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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  And Jesus answered him.
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  I tell you the truth today.
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  Today you will be with me in paradise.
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  And that's the way that's the way Christ loved us, is that even in his moment of death, even when he was hanging from the cross dying, after being tortured and beaten by his own people.
• 8:52
  He he was willing to forgive unconditionally.
• 8:57
  And without any, any, um, didn't need anything from anybody for any reason, he said forgive them.
• 9:04
  Love them.
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  Ask, and and these, these guys were saying, hey, Thank you.
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  Ultimately, I believe that.
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  I mean, that's how, you know, he he thanked Christ by, you know, asking him to be with him today.
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  And Christ said, you will be here with me in this kingdom, in this paradise today.
• 9:25
  And, you know, I know that's a little heavy for the morning, and it is Tuesday, and in my denomination, when I get up in the mornings, and I say, uh, I say, uh, a set of prayers, and I, uh, focus on Tuesdays, and, and on Fridays on what, what I call the, or what they call the sorrowful mysteries, and these are the sorrowful mysteries.
• 9:45
  I mean, and they, you know, the agony in the garden, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross and his crucifixion.
• 9:53
  And at the whole time, His his whole statement, his whole deportment shouted, forgive them for they know not what they do.
• 10:01
  You know, and maybe maybe today is a good day for for anyone that's listening just to take that into consideration because you may come across somebody today that may be just like the thief on the cross next to Christ that just needs some of that extra unconditional love.
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  We'll close this with a prayer.
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  Father God, teach me to love as you have loved me through your Holy Spirit, free me from selfish motives and fill my heart with genuine compassion.
• 10:30
  Shape me through the example of Jesus.
• 10:32
  Amen.