Songs of Worship: Unconditional

By Linh Bashara

“You are worthless! You are unloved! You are unclean!”. These were the words that I was hearing in my head growing up. I grew up in a very abusive and dysfunctional family and my whole life I knew nothing more than these words that were playing over and over in my mind like a broken record. These words were driven by the shame I was carrying from my childhood abuse and only got louder as I got older. At fourteen, a Buddhist monk molested me, and family members wanted to keep silent about this horrible act because they didn’t want to lose face and I felt completely rejected and betrayed by people that should have loved, protected and defended me. My shame grew even louder and louder, and it only supported the lies that I was already believing about myself that I’m worthless, unloved, and unclean. I sank into a deep pit of depression and hopelessness. It wasn’t until my shame was met with the grace of Jesus did it get silenced and is now replaced with God’s truths. Did you know that songs of worship can counter the lies that come from the enemy, Satan? Songs of worship have biblical truths that renew our minds as we stand firm upon God’s Powerful Word. There’s a song in particular that brings me to tears called “Unconditional,” written by one of our very own Central Christian Church Worship leaders, Ronnie Petkovich. The song “Unconditional” speaks of God’s unconditional love for us in the Person of Jesus Christ. God’s selfless act of love reflected in this song is a powerful reminder as to why it’s so important to listen to songs of worship and allowing God and His truths to renew our mind and transform our hearts.

Some of the lyrics from the song goes, “I’m overtaken by Your mercy Jesus. I’m overwhelmed by Your grace. My heart’s wide open as You take me deeper, my soul can’t help but sing”. These lyrics brings me to tears as I’m reminded of God’s unconditional love for me when He laid down His life by going to the cross and dying for my sin and shame so that I could be forgiven and receive eternal life. This is God’s mercy and grace resulted in the act of self-sacrifice. Ephesians 2:4-5 declares, “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved”. God’s unconditional love saved me from my tormented soul because of the shame that I was carrying. This unconditional love of God is freely given, and we can’t buy it or earn it, but God wants us to receive so that we can be set free from the chains that bind us and keep us locked up. I held on to shame, guilt, condemnation that kept me as a prisoner for over 30 years until God’s unconditional love in Jesus set me free and broke the chains from all the lies, I was believing. My soul can’t help but sing and praise God for His unconditional love and the victory that is found in Jesus!

I pray that when we listen to songs of worship, we would approach God with an open heart filled with humility, love, praise and adoration for who He is and what He’s done. We can approach Him confidently laying down our pain, shame, and brokenness and stand on the truth of who He is and the promises that are in the lyrics found in songs of worship. May songs of worship strengthen and deepen our faith in Jesus. May it deploy us to go and tell the good news of Jesus to others so that they too can find freedom in Christ. God bless.

Read lyrics HERE

Listen to song HERE