One of the most profound realizations we can have as believers is understanding the depth of God's love for us, even in our brokenness and frailty. Often, we strive to demonstrate our devotion through religious practices and disciplines, hoping our efforts will make us worthy of the Father's love.
However, the truth is that our feeble attempts at perfect obedience and pure motives can never earn God's love - because His love is not contingent on our performance. The remarkable mystery of the Gospel is that while we were still sinners, helpless in our rebellion, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
This mind-blowing truth turns our understanding upside down. We don't have to attain perfection to be accepted; rather, we are accepted despite our imperfections. God's unfathomable love embraces us at our weakest, giving us full access to the richness of His grace and the power of His Spirit to transform our hearts.
When we catch even a glimpse of this upending love, it melts our hardened hearts. The relentless cycle of trying to justify ourselves is broken. We no longer have to strive to be enough, because God's love fills our poverty with His unsearchable riches in Christ.
From this place of being overwhelmingly loved in our brokenness, genuine love and obedience can finally flow. We realize that God's command to love Him with every fiber of our being is not an indictment, but an invitation into the depths of His own inexhaustible love. He first loved us to awaken our capacity to love in return.
On the mission field, a visceral revelation of God's love for us in our weakness is essential. The daily challenges of cross-cultural adaptation, language learning, disappointments, and spiritual warfare can leave us feeling depleted, inadequate, and unqualified. But in these vulnerable places, the power of being loved by God regardless of our performance propels us forward.
God doesn't wait for us to have it all together before calling us; He lovingly equips the called by immersing us in His unmerited affection that fuels perseverance. The starting point of our "yes" to missions isn't self-sufficient love for God, but being undone by His lavish love for us as we are.
From this posture of continually abiding in the reality of His love, instead of pursuing our ideals of holiness through self-effort, we can pour out sacrificially in mission from the overflow of His affection flooding our souls. Our "obedience" becomes a joyful response, not a ritual or duty.
So for every missionary and every follower of Jesus, may we linger often at the foot of the cross, in awe of the Savior who gave His all because of His love for the unlovely and the unlovable. It is this self-giving love that empowers our feeble "yes" as we go and make disciples of all nations.
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