"Jesus loves us all unconditionally..."
From the way so many people behave (beyond spoken rationalizations), they think that they are doing Jesus some great favor in letting him be around them. "Can I bring you your slippers?" "Would you like a softer pillow?" To these questions from the Christ-ish figure which most people demand, a spitting in the face is what those same people give as a first answer, and then say: "You are not offering me enough to be acceptable as my Savior. My Jesus would do everything so I don't have to do, well, anything!"
From all the talk, you would think that one of our purposes in life is to judge whether this Jesus character fulfils our grandest desires at zero cost to us. In holy writ, it reads the other way around: The Lord is judging us to see if we are fit to be one of his people - if we offer him our "broken hearts" and our "contrite spirits".
Overly-self-compassionate Jesus-demanders have named their term of acceptance "unconditional love" and the concept has absolutely caught fire among lazy "Jesus' love saves us no matter what we do" devotees. "Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us." (2 Nephi 28:7) Today, captured societies demand that no one should be punished for anything, justify every behavior, and rationalize this with a new extra-scriptural and non-commanding Jesus-love that doesn't want to offend folks.
The Lord just doesn't work that way. God's love is established and well explained in scripture, which should be read far more often. Here are some examples:
- Commandments Lead to Exaltation (D&C 14:7)
- Blessings Come Through Specific Obedience to Specific Commandments (D&C 130:20-21)
- God does nothing unconditionally. Read your scriptures and see. (D&C 82:10)
- Everything God has ever Established in relation to your exaltation has always worked in the past, always works now, and will always work in the future. There is no "new" or "better" way to suggest and God is not entertaining alternative interpretations - The Way is set, well-documented, and it is not changing in the least fashion. (1 Nephi 10:18)
We don't get to alter the conditions that God has established. Demanding that the gospel must "change with the times" demonstrates mistrust in God and his established Agenda.
God has established the parameters of his "love" as well, mostly through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and his demands for repentance. If you desire or "demand" that God takes more responsibility for your concept of the "love" relationship and don't contribute what the Lord has prescribed through obedience, you will be ultimately disappointed with the result. Nothing is more clear than what God provides and demands - read the parables of Christ yet again for hard clarification on the nature of "the kingdom of heaven".
If you really want unconditional love, you might rudely turn to your mother or father, who you might sucker into being your personal "you have to serve me no matter how I treat you" slave. Just know that the Lord will exact retribution for every torture you inflict upon parents (or anyone else) with your "unconditional" demands. The Lord will have vengeance on you (D&C 29:17) for such behavior and you will plead that your just punishment will not be "unconditional".
You and I want God to treat us differently when we behave differently, especially for the better. The Lord has promised to bless and reward us relative to the "conditions" of our obedience. "Conditional" allows for change and improvement, which is exactly what God offers through his Agenda.
You likely really want a conditional God and so do I.
