Unconditional Love

There is some confusion about the love of God. As a parent, I can't imagine ever ceasing to love my children. Yet we are taught that the love of God is not unconditional. How can it be that I believe my love for my children is unconditional?

I think that there are perhaps two definitions of love at work here. The first we might call beneficent love. This is the love that is an action that provides benefits to the object of that love. This is the "verb" kind of love. It is the love that pours down blessings on our heads. In this sense of love, our Father's gifts are certainly conditioned upon our choices. 

The second type of love might be called affectionate love. This is the feeling in our hearts that reaches out to others and helps us empathize with them and desire to serve them. This is the "feeling" kind of love that causes our hands to continually be outstretched toward our children to welcome them back when they exercise their agency to return to us after an absence.