"We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn't approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God's love. Evil does not belong to God. God's unconditional love means that God continues to love us even when we say or think evil things. God continues to wait for us as a loving parent waits for the return of a lost child. It is important for us to hold on to the truth that God never gives up loving us even when God is saddened by what we do. That truth will help us to return to God's ever-present love." (Henri Nouwen) It is hard for us to comprehend God's unconditional love. We have no other experience of such love outside of God. It sounds too good to be true. It is our human limitations to his love which is the problem. We have equated love with something to earn. We have allowed our past sinful life to make us feel unworthy of his love. We are afraid of love because, as someone has said, "Love hurts." None of this is true love. God's love frees us to be fully who we are meant to be. Receiving God's love stirs in us a desire to love in return. Such is our true identity: to be loved and to love. Say yes to God's unconditional love and you will be saying yes to God with love.