Unconditional Love

We live in a world that puts a lot of stock in appearances. How someone looks can determine how they're treated, whether they're welcomed, and even whether they're loved. But every now and then, a story comes along that cuts right through all of that.

In this episode of It's My Turn, Bro. Don Wildmon tells the story of a sailor, stationed far from home, who watches a fellow soldier get badly wounded in battle. Rather than moving on, he stays close. He cares for him. And eventually, he writes home to his parents with a request: he wants to bring this man home with him. The soldier has lost an arm, a leg, and his face bears the marks of war. But to this sailor, none of that changes a thing. He sees a person worth fighting for.

His parents don’t see it the same way. They’re uncomfortable. They hesitate. They can’t picture welcoming someone so disfigured into their home, and they make that known.

Then the news arrives. Their son has died. And when they go to identify him, they discover the truth he had been trying to prepare them for. He was the wounded soldier. He had been describing himself all along.

It's the kind of ending that stops you cold. Because it's not just a twist in a story. It's a mirror held up to all of us.

How often do we keep people at arm's length because of how they look, how they carry themselves, or how much effort it takes to include them? Love isn't just a warm feeling. It's a choice, made again and again, to see the worth in someone even when it costs you something.

That's the challenge this episode leaves us with. Not just to feel compassion, but to actually live it out.