Unconditional Love

May 23 2025 - Eric Buresh

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is committing adultery, just like the love of the Lord for the children of Israel, who look to other gods.’” 
—Hosea 3:1 

Are there people in your life who are hard to love? People who are different, distant, disagreeable? People who wound rather than warm, who repel rather than attract? Then look to Hosea—and beyond Hosea, look to Christ. 

Go again. Love again. Forgive again. These are not the easy commands of sentimentality, but the bleeding words of a holy God whose heart breaks over His wandering people. Hosea’s marriage was no ordinary bond—it was a sermon in the flesh. His bride, Gomer, was not faithful. She ran into the embrace of others. She gave herself away, again and again. 

What a strange love the prophet was called to show! And yet—what a glorious picture of God’s love for us. We are Gomer. We are the unfaithful. We have chased idols and bowed to the gods of pleasure, pride, politics, and possessions. We have loved the world more than the presence of our Redeemer. And still, He comes for us. 

This is a hard and holy lesson: the love Hosea showed is the love we are called to reflect. 

We are not called to love only the easy. We are not commissioned to love only those who fit our mold, share our values, or return our affection. We are commanded to love like God loves—a love that crosses the divide, bears the cost, and pursues even the unlikeable. 

Christian love is not proven in comfort, but in cost. 
Not in the fellowship of the like-minded, but in the forbearance of the difficult. 
Not in those who bless you, but in those who break your heart. 

And when it hurts to love—when forgiveness feels impossible, when reconciliation seems absurd—remember Hosea. Remember that he obeyed God’s call even when it brought shame, even when it scraped the depths of sorrow. He did not wait for Gomer to repent. He went. He loved. He obeyed. He painted a picture of divine love that still stuns the soul. 

Do not wait until you feel ready to love. Obey now. Forgive now. Move toward the one who is hard to bear. Love when it costs. Love when it scars. For in doing so, you do not merely imitate Hosea—you proclaim Christ. 

Go again. Love again. Forgive again. 

This is our God. This is His heart. 

Let it be ours.