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Nothing stirs my heart quite like hearing sisters and brothers bear testimony to the goodness and grace of God in their lives. It’s a joy like no other to be the recipient of the sharing of another’s faith journey.

While my husband and I were working remotely for a few weeks one winter, we joined a book study at a local church. The book was Dane Ortlund’s Gentle and Lowly—wonderful and worth reading —but it was my new friend Kate and her testimony of God’s unconditional love that still stir me, even two years later.

The question was posed, “Do you see the beauty of Christ’s love?”

I remember a pretty young mom named Kate meekly raising her hand. She shared that when her son was born, she thought it might be good to “think about church.” In tenderness and through the simplicity of children’s devotional books, Kate said the Lord drew her heart to Himself. She said she was particularly and profoundly impacted by learning about God’s unconditional love.

Kate shared that she grew up in a home where both her parents were extremely critical. She couldn’t do anything right. Love was something that came, or didn’t come, depending on her actions, their moods, or the weather. Love was withdrawn on a dime for behaviors that didn’t meet their standard.

In a home like this, love is something earned, not given freely. In weapon-like maneuvering, love might be withdrawn with no warning or explanation. Like a rug being jerked out from under your feet, deep-seated insecurity is woven into a person’s fiber.

In a home like this, where love is conditional and relationships are shallow and tenuous, when the winds of trials or disagreements come, there is no root to keep relationships steady. When discord happens, the relationship rolls like tumbleweed in an Arizona desert.

I can relate to Kate on some levels. Perhaps you can too. Coming from homes like this, the unconditional love of Christ is stunning and especially beautiful. In contrast to the shifty love of a home like Kate’s, the love of Jesus is anchoring, safe, consistent, steady, dependable, and sure.

I have long been drawn, wooed, and ministered to by the truth of God’s Word that describes God’s love as steadfast. This steadfast love of God is immovable, not fickle, never canceling, infinitely game-free.

Psalm 59 says:
“O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress.
My God in his steadfast love will meet me…
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.”

Apart from God Himself showing His unconditional love to Kate, to me, and to you, we would be bound to repeat cycles of unhealthy, sabotaging relationships that aren’t really love at all.

The unconditional and steadfast love of Christ is something to behold and experience. It’s glorious and lovely, beautiful beyond description.