First Comes Love

Sometimes, we as Christians miss the mark as we work hard to evangelize in the name of the Lord.  Our goal isn't to get others to act as they should, it is to invite them into the warmth of God's love.  

We don’t want people to be manipulated by fear of our judgments of them, we want them drawn to the unconditional love of Christ.  Yes, unconditional.  Available to us with no other payment than our belief in the work Jesus did for us on the Cross.  His sacrifice, His Blood, the Father’s love, the Holy Spirit in us; and then—and only then--the response of obedience.  

Service to God and good works in His Name unfold in a specific order. First, we learn of the love of God expressed through the gift of His Son. This knowledge of God's love for us fires the response of love for Him in our hearts. Finally, obedience to perform the good works to which He calls us grows from this center of being loved by God and expressing love for Him in return.  

We need to be sure to present God's love in this order, or we are in danger of causing those we target for discipleship to change their outward behavior in order to please us.  They then become bound by a desire to be acceptable in the eyes of other human beings with fear of human judgment motivating acts of service that flow, not from the Holy Spirit's lead from within, but in order to meet the standards of human beings from without.   

The unfolding of a damaged heart in the warmth of God's love takes time.  Pray that those you invite into God's Kingdom may know His love and be cautious of demanding acts of service as evidence of heart change. Obedience comes after one has basked in the unconditional love of God and is a response from within, not an initiative imposed from without.  Lack of outward acts of service is always a sign that we need to know more of God's love.  "If you are really saved, then you will prove it by these specific acts of service" needs to transform into "I will show you God's love and pray for you, and then watch to see what He does through you."  

Once more: obedience is a response and not an initiative.  Let our motivation in evangelism always be this: how may we show them more of God's love.  

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We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19 

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 

1 John 3:1