Unconditional Love

Just finished "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. Great book that follows the idea behind the book of Hosea in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is fiction. And - there are wonderful discussion questions at the end of the book that would be interesting to talk through with a group. The concept of unconditional love is difficult when someone completely turns their back on kindness.
I find most people don't understand the concept of love. I taught a 4th and 5th grade Sunday school class about the love between Jonathan and David (in the Bible). I thought one of the young men in the class was going to get sick when I told him that loving his neighbor meant loving the people in his Sunday school class. "Oh that is so gross" was his comment. The sad thing is that many never get past the 4th and 5th grade level of emotional maturity. Sometimes I find that I regress to that level!
I frequently think, "What would love do in this situation?" I don't want to enable someone to take advantage of anyone (especially if that someone is me). There is such a fine line between letting something go and then settling the situation at a later time. I can let things go, but I am not good about bringing it up later so it can be discussed. I don't like reopening a "can of worms" if it is going to blow up. Sometimes that means there are lots of "worms" crawling around just waiting for the right moment to escape and make a big mess.
How about you? When love is difficult, how do you keep loving?
In the meantime - I still love you!