Unconditional love is the foundation of our relationship with God. Unlike human love, which is often conditional, God’s love is unwavering, infinite, and always reaching out to us, no matter our mistakes or failures. Many believe they must earn God’s love, but the truth is that we are already deeply loved, even in our imperfections. Through teshuvah (returning to God), we are continually offered the chance to grow in grace and align our will with God’s. As we learn to accept this divine love, we transform not only our own lives but also the lives of those around us by reflecting that love outward.

Key Concepts

1. God’s Love is Unconditional: God does not love us if we meet certain requirements—He loves us because we are His children. His love is not withdrawn when we make mistakes but rather invites us to return to Him. This understanding allows us to move forward in faith, knowing we are never beyond His reach.
2. Grace and Works Go Hand in Hand: While grace saves us, it does not excuse us from living righteously. Grace transforms us and leads us to do good works, not as a requirement for salvation but as a natural response to the love we receive. Faith without works is dead, and works without faith are empty actions.
3. We have the Option to Choose to Accept or Reject God’s Love: The greatest obstacle between us and God’s love is not His rejection but our own unwillingness to accept it. Some remain in a spiritual “hell” not because God has forsaken them, but because they refuse to believe they are worthy of His love. Our journey is about surrendering our ego, repenting, and choosing to step into the light of His grace.

God’s Love is Unconditional

YHVH hath appeared of old unto me, saying: ‘Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.’” —Jeremiah 31:3

After weeks of prayer and meditation, working to deepen our personal relationships with the Lord, one might ask “Why do we do this?” The easy answer is love. Not to earn God’s love, but because we love the Lord and want to build a personal relationship with him. What is love? Is there a difference between God’s love and mankind’s ideas of love? Does God ever stop loving us? There is an idea out in the world that God will only love us “if.” What must we do then to earn God’s love?

I want to start by reminding you that God’s Love is unconditional. We know this because we know why He sent us to earth. We read:

Behold; this is the work and the glory of Elohim, of YHVH, and of the gods; to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” —Book of Remembrance 2:6

This echoes 1 Moses 2:20 on the Torah of Moses, Moses 1:39 in the Latter-day Saint’s Pearl of Great Price and Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants 22:23c. How does God do this? He sent us here to try ourselves, to allow us to make mistakes. Christ was chosen in the beginning to come here, to live, die, and be resurrected for us (1 Peter 1:18-21). And we know that love is unconditional because he came sent by the Father and Mother not to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:16-17).

This is why there are consequences to human actions, regardless of blame of fault. We can learn from our mistakes and hopefully the mistakes of others. Unlike what some would want us to believe, God doesn’t literally hate us when we sin. If He did we couldn’t repent. His unconditional love gives us a way back. This is why we have teshuvah, that we may, through Christ, return to the God that created us.

God loves us even though we sin, giving us unconditional love so we may come home if we so choose. We are saved from our sins, not in them (Alma 8:87-92 [11:34-37]). There’s a difference between from and in our sins. Once we are saved, Christ’s Grace protects us as we grow in His Grace through our relationship with the First Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Without Christ’s Grace we sin by abandoning God, and as Amulek stated, we will not be saved in our sins. But what is the sin that stops us? Merely our own unwillingness to accept God’s unconditional love.

Many struggle with the idea that God could love them despite their sins and imperfections. If God’s love were conditional, no one could be saved, because we all fall short. However, through Christ, we are constantly invited to return and realign ourselves with divine will. This is not a passive love—it is an active love that continually reaches out, calling us back to unity with God.

Grace and Works, Hand in Hand

The problem with the idea that we’ll be saved in our sins is that for this to happen, we must lose the ability to choose for ourselves. This would be its own type of Hell. We’d be saved but still in “Hell” as Hell is a mental state, a perspective where we cannot love or accept God’s love. We’d be damned, just in a different way. And, if we would not actually be saved then Christ would not be the Savior.

Instead, we are perfected when born again but not perfect. If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need to grow in Grace. This is why works without grace are meaningless (dead), and grace without works is also dead, showing we do not truly have grace (Romans 3:19-24, James 2:14-18, 26). Why follow the Law if the Law is dead to us? And how are we saved by the Law if the Grace of Jesus moves us to follow the Law? What matters then is faith and works going hand in hand. In Kabbalah, this is to say what matters is where the Law is written, in our pierced hearts. Grace moves us to act. When we accept God’s love, it inspires us to love others, to forgive, and to walk in righteousness—not because we must but because we desire to. This is the transformation that happens when the Law is written on our hearts.

Accepting God’s Love is a Choice

While God’s love is unconditional, our ability to receive it depends on our willingness to accept it. Sin is not what separates us from God—our refusal to return to Him does. We have the freedom to choose, and in that choice lies our spiritual destiny. Hell, then, is not merely a place but a state of being—one where we reject love, refuse grace, and resist transformation. True joy is found in surrendering our fears, doubts, and ego to the divine love that has always been waiting for us.

Discussion Questions

1. How does understanding that God’s love is unconditional change your view of repentance (teshuvah)?
2. What does it mean to be “saved from our sins” rather than “saved in our sins”?
3. How do you personally experience the balance of grace and works in your faith journey?
4. What are some barriers that prevent people from accepting God’s unconditional love?
5. How can we reflect God’s unconditional love in our daily interactions with others?

Suggestions for Action

1. Spend five minutes each day meditating on how God’s love has manifested in your life. Write down one way you have felt His love each day. How has recognizing God’s love changed your perspective on challenges you face?
2. Perform one act of selfless kindness each day as a reflection of God’s love. How does serving others deepen your understanding of divine love?
3. Read and meditate on one scripture daily that speaks of God’s love (ex. John 3:16, Romans 8:38-39). How does scripture affirm God’s unwavering love for you?
4. Offer a prayer asking God to help you fully accept His love, even in moments of doubt or unworthiness. What doubts or fears do you need to surrender to fully embrace God’s love?
5. Write about a moment when you truly felt God’s love. How can you remind yourself daily of this experience?

Final Thought & Meditation

Sit quietly and take a deep breath. Imagine a warm, gentle light surrounding you—this is God’s love. It does not judge, it does not withhold, it does not expect. It simply is. Let yourself rest in that love. Feel its peace, its warmth, its presence. Know that you are enough. You are worthy. And no matter where you go or what you do, this love will always be with you.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 8:38-39

Let this truth sink into your soul. You are loved, fully and completely. Carry that love with you, and share it with the world.