Unconditional Love Quotes - 61 quotes

quote icon There are many ways to describe and speak of divine love. One of the terms we hear often today is that God’s love is “unconditional.” While in one sense that is true, the descriptor unconditional appears nowhere in scripture. Rather, His love is described in scripture as “great and wonderful love,”3 “perfect love,”4 “redeeming love,”5 and “everlasting love.”6 These are better terms because the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or all are saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional. God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon Love without service is like faith without works.

- Aaron Critchfield

quote icon “Fellowship with God is not governed by law but by love…”

- Anders Nygren

quote icon “God’s love allows no limits to be set for it by the character or conduct of man. The differences between the worthy and the unworthy, the righteous and sinner, sets no bounds to His love.”

- Anders Nygren

quote icon “Love loves the unlovable … For sinners are lovely because they are loved; they are not loved because they are lovely.”

- Anders Nygren

quote icon People just want sooooo much for "love" to be unconditional... It is just too much of an emotional blanket for most people to be able give up. As they use the term, it really isn't much different from "free grace". I am surprised at some Church Leaders who still haven't tuned into Pres. Nelson, Elder Christofferson, Elder Bednar etc. who are gently trying to retire the term. Here is the pattern (Socratic Method) I usually follow when discussing this topic: I have learned to ask clarifying questions such as: "What do you mean by love? Do you mean emotional love or actionable love?" The next question is: "Is emotional love worth much if it doesn't involve any action?" ... Then quote Shakespeare: "They do not love who do not show their love." Then (if they have make it this far) I bust out the term "proportional"... As in: God's ACTIONABLE love is proportional to the commandments we keep. Otherwise it is just free grace, and free grace is not a doctrine we believe in.

- Armon Eaton

quote icon That's the America I know. That’s the country we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Undaunted by challenge. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

- Barack Obama

quote icon …lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”

- Bible

quote icon “If ye keep my commandments, [then] ye shall abide in my love.”

- Bible

quote icon “Mercy cannot rob justice”

- Book of Mormon

quote icon “Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance…”

- Book of Mormon

quote icon “It is written, ‘Love your enemies’ … I do not think the term was any more misapplied than when the Apostles wrote, ‘Love your enemies;’ for I do not believe a word of that.”

- Brigham Young

quote icon “‘Love your enemies!’ What, love hell? When people do that, they get where devils are. If it had been written, ‘Love the spirits God has placed in tabernacles, and try to reclaim them and do them good, and pray for those who despitefully use you,’ I would feed and clothe them, take peculiar care of them, and place them where they would not hurt any body. You may think that I am disputing the Bible. If you understood what the Lord means when he talks about loving his children, you would understand that he does not love them as they are now; for he hates and is angry with the wicked.”

- Brigham Young

quote icon “I have not much love for them, only in the Gospel. I would cause them to repent, if I could, and make them good men and a good community. I have no fellowship for their avarice, blindness, and ungodly actions. To be great, is to be good before the Heavens and before all good men. I will not fellowship the wicked in their sins, so help me God.”

- Brigham Young

quote icon As painful as it may sometimes be, there should be lines that we are not willing to cross—not for our friends, not for our family members, not for people who threaten us with rejection for following our conscience.

- Carol Rice

quote icon “If I may dare the biological image, God is a ‘host’ who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and ‘take advantage of’ Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves.”

- C.S. Lewis

quote icon Some seem to value God’s love because of their hope that His love is so great and so unconditional that it will mercifully excuse them from obeying His laws. In contrast, those who understand God’s plan for His children know that God’s laws are invariable, which is another great evidence of His love for His children. Mercy cannot rob justice, and those who obtain mercy are ‘they who have kept the covenant and observed the commandment.’ If anyone thinks that godly or parental love for an individual grants the loved one license to disobey the law, he or she does not understand either love or law. In other words, the kingdom of glory to which the Final Judgment assigns us is not determined by love but by the law that God has invoked in His plan to qualify us for eternal life, ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God.’

- Dallin H. Oaks

quote icon Carried to an undisciplined excess, love and tolerance can produce indifference to truth and justice, and opposition to unity.

- Dallin H. Oaks

quote icon Some seem to value God's love because of their hope that His love is so great and so unconditional that it will mercifully excuse them from obeying his laws. In contrast, those who understand God's plan for His children know that God's laws are invariable...

- Dallin H. Oaks

quote icon If anyone thinks that godly or parental love for an individual grants the loved one license to disobey the law, he or she does not understand either love or law.

- Dallin H. Oaks

quote icon “The central feature in Lehi’s dream is the tree of life—a representation of “the love of God”. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Thus, the birth, life, and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ are the greatest manifestations of God's love for His children...The fruit on the tree is a symbol for the blessings of the Atonement. Partaking of the fruit of the tree represents the receiving of ordinances and covenants whereby the Atonement can become fully efficacious in our lives.

- David A. Bednar

quote icon And the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved.

- Doctrine and Covenants

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon These are better terms because the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or all are saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon “And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.”

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon Nevertheless, God’s greater blessings are conditioned on obedience. President Russell M. Nelson explained: “The resplendent bouquet of God’s love—including eternal life—includes blessings for which we must qualify, not entitlements to be expected unworthily. Sinners cannot bend His will to theirs and require Him to bless them in sin [see Alma 11:37]. If they desire to enjoy every bloom in His beautiful bouquet, they must repent.”

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon To abide in God’s love in this sense means to submit fully to His will. It means to accept His correction when needed, “for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon Elder Dallin H. Oaks observed: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become.”

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon Christ died not to save indiscriminately but to offer repentance.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon At another level, however, the question might be, “Can’t God do whatever He wants and save us just because He loves us, without the need for a Savior?” Phrased this way, quite a few people in today’s world would share that question. They believe in God and a postmortal existence but assume that because God loves us, it doesn’t matter so much what we do or don’t do; He just takes care of things.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon This requires a knowledge of good and evil on our part, with the capacity and opportunity to choose between the two. And it requires accountability for choices made—otherwise they aren’t really choices. Choice, in turn, requires law, or predictable outcomes. We must be able by a particular action or choice to cause a particular outcome or result—and by the opposite choice create the opposite outcome. If actions don’t have fixed consequences, then one has no control over outcomes, and choice is meaningless.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon Using justice as a synonym for law, Alma states, “Now the work of justice [that is, the operation of law] [cannot] be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God” (Alma 42:13). It is His perfect understanding and use of law—or in other words, His justice—that gives God His power. We need the justice of God, a system of fixed and immutable laws that He Himself abides by and employs, so that we can have and exercise agency.2 This justice is the foundation of our freedom to act and is our only path to ultimate happiness.

- D. Todd Christofferson

quote icon What could possibly be louder and more powerful than hate? Love can. But not just any love. Confounding love. Unconditional love. Sacrificial love. The love we see in Jesus. What if we tried to love our enemies the way Jesus loved his? How would it change the tenor of our conflicts and our conversations?

- Jason Vanderground

quote icon But, he also said, “we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, “Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.” We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.”

- Jeffrey R. Holland

quote icon If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness.

- Jesus Christ

quote icon For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a a sign that they may bconsume it upon their lusts.

- Jesus Christ

quote icon "It is not an unusual thing to have students cover willful disobedience in the blanket of God’s love and to advance the idea of a universal salvation that sounds dangerously like that advocated by Lucifer in the councils of heaven.”

- Joseph Fielding McConkie

quote icon “There is a difference between the love we should bear towards our enemies and that we should bear towards our friends. … I do not love them so that I would take them into my bosom, or invite them to associate with my family, or that I would give my daughters to their embraces, nor my sons to their counsels. I do not love them so well that I would invite them to the councils of the Priesthood, and the ordinances of the House of God, to scoff and jeer at sacred things which they do not understand, nor would I share with them the inheritance that God, my Father, has given me in Zion. … But we do not love to associate with our enemies, and I do not think the Lord requires us to do it. If He does He will have to reveal it, for I cannot find it anywhere revealed.”

- Joseph F. Smith

quote icon Duty Ethics … But I say unto you, Love your enemies [unconditionally…the same as your friends and family], bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Value Ethics … But I say unto you, Love your enemies [conditionally…differently than your friends and family], bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

- Matthew

quote icon … But I say unto you, Love your enemies [conditionally…differently than your friends and family], bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

- Matthew

quote icon “Christ’s love for us will give us strength and urge us to spend ourselves for him. ‘Let the sisters and the people eat you up.’ We have no right to refuse our life to others in whom we contact Christ.”

- Mother Teresa

quote icon “Love, in order to survive, must be nourished by sacrifices, especially the sacrifice of self. / Charity to be fruitful, must cost us. / This love should flow from self-sacrifice, and it must be felt to the point of hurting. / He wants us to love one another, to give ourselves to each other until it hurts. / Give until it hurts, until you feel the pain.“

- Mother Teresa

quote icon Behold, he offereth himself a asacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto bnone else can the cends of the law be answered.

- Nephi

quote icon It stressed that people in “irregular” unions — gay or straight — are in a state of sin. But it said that shouldn’t deprive them of God’s love or mercy. Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it, the document said.

- Newsmax

quote icon “In today’s world trembling with terror and hatred, our knowledge of divine love is of utmost importance... While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures…The full flower of divine love and our greatest blessings from that love are conditional—predicated upon our obedience to eternal law.”

- Russell M. Nelson

quote icon Now may I offer an important note of caution. An erroneous assumption could be made that if a little of something is good, a lot must be better. Not so! Overdoses of needed medication can be toxic. Boundless mercy could oppose justice. So tolerance, without limit, could lead to spineless permissiveness.

- Russell M. Nelson

quote icon While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures. On the other hand, many verses affirm that the higher levels of love the Father and the Son feel for each of us — and certain divine blessings stemming from that love — are conditional.

- Russell M. Nelson

quote icon Understanding that divine love and blessings are not truly "unconditional" can defend us against common fallacies such as these: "Since God’s love is unconditional, He will love me regardless..."; or "Since 'God is love,' He will love me unconditionally, regardless..." These arguments are used by anti-Christs to woo people with deception.

- Russell M. Nelson

quote icon “They do not love that do not show their love.”

quote icon Because God's love is all-embracing some speak of it as unconditional, and in their minds they may project that thought to mean that God's blessings are unconditional and that salvation is unconditional...they're not. Some are want to say 'the savior loves me just as I am'...and that is certainly true, but he cannot take any of us into his kingdom just as we are. For no unclean thing can dwell there or dwell in his presence...our sins must first be resolved.

- D. Todd Christofferson

Missing Reference

quote icon Love is Confused There are definitions of love in Greek: Eros Sexual Passion: “…eros was viewed as a dangerous, fiery and irrational form of love that could take hold of you and possess you…Eros involved a loss of control that frightened the Greeks.” Philia Friendship: “…showing loyalty to your friends…” Ludius Playful Affection: “…referred to the playful affection between children or young lovers.” Agape Universal Brotherly Love: “This was a love that you extended to all people, whether family members or distant strangers.” Pragma Longstanding Love: “…the deep understanding that developed between long-married couples. It was about making compromises to help the relationship work over time, and showing patience and tolerance.” Philautia Self-Love “…two types ... unhealthy narcissism, where you became self-obsessed … and healthy self-esteem. As Aristotle said, ‘All friendly feelings for others are an extension of man’s feelings for himself.’”

- Armon Eaton

Missing Reference

quote icon God is Love If you Get God Wrong, You’ll Get Love Wrong; If you Get Love Wrong, You’ll Get God Wrong. Should it Surprise Us, then, that Apostate Christianity Gets BOTH God and Love Wrong?

- Armon Eaton

Missing Reference

quote icon Eternalism’s Alternate Ending: “Once Small figured out there were no conditions or boundaries, Small did whatever Small wanted, whenever Small wanted, without any consequences.”

- Armon Eaton

Missing Reference

quote icon Love loves the unlovable no matter what = Unconditional Love

- Armon Eaton

Missing Reference

quote icon Here is the recipe for how to corrupt love in 3 simple steps Take the words "I Love You." Eliminate the "I" from "I Love You"…How? Introduce Selflessness…Remove the self from the equation. Now let's Eliminate the "You" from "I love You"…How? Introduce Unconditional Love…Unconditional love has nothing to do with anyone.Now let's eliminate the concept of love itself, turning it into sacrificial, duty laden relationship."…How? Introduce Self-Sacrifice…Love is no longer recognizable as love, because it has now become "I sacrifice myself for you". So all 3 taken together… "I Love You" becomes...This unconditional, selfless, self-sacrificial love becomes an all-powerful god in itself. It becomes a universal "get-out-of-jail-free" card for anyone to do anything and get away with it as long as they claim it is love. It takes over everything it touches, becoming a law unto itself thanks to DUTY ETHICS.…

- Armon Eaton

Missing Reference

quote icon Let's apply the 3 Deadly Virtues to the tulips in an existential proof and see what happens: Starting with Selflessness, you must forget about the patch of earth your life requires. You must selflessly invite others to take up your space. But not just any "others". Your Duty is to invite THE MOST NEEDY others…Dandelions (weeds) to come share your space. Next, with Self-Sacrifice, when the rain comes, you must give it all away (remember "give said the little stream"). Duty requires that you give away NO MATER WHAT or WHO the others are (i.e. weeds). Umbrella over tulip…and the weeds grow. Finally, apply Unconditional Love. John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (only…they are not your friends) You must love all these poor Dandelion creatures "NO MATTER WHAT", especially to the point of giving up your life for them. The fact that they have taken over your space, and sucked up all of the water, just gives you all the more chance to prove that your unconditional Love. In the end, the Tulip is gone, the garden has become a patch of overgrown weeds...Worthy of being burned. If the three deadly virtues consistently applied will do that to your garden…What will they do to your life?

- Armon Eaton

Missing Reference

quote icon "Some members wonder why their priesthood leaders will not accept them just as they are and simply comfort them in what they call pure Christian love. Pure Christian love, the love of Christ, does not presuppose approval of all conduct. Surely the ordinary experiences of parenthood teach that one can be consumed with love for another and yet be unable to approve unworthy conduct. We cannot, as a church, approve unworthy conduct or accept into full fellowship individuals who live or who teach standards that are grossly in violation of that which the Lord requires of Latter-day Saints. If we, out of sympathy, should approve unworthy conduct, it might give present comfort to someone but would not ultimately contribute to that person’s happiness.”

- Boyd K. Packer

Missing Reference

quote icon While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures. On the other hand, many verses affirm that the higher levels of love the Father and the Son feel for each of us—and certain divine blessings stemming from that love—are conditional. Before citing examples, it is well to recognize various forms of conditional expression in the scriptures.

- Russell M. Nelson

Missing Reference

quote icon There is no such thing as unconditional love. But the conditions that we love under are beautiful.

- Unknown

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