Invitations. Outreach. Evangelism. Chinese New Year. Events Week. Maybe your instinctive reaction is nervousness, excitement, or pre-emptive tiredness. Most of us know that we are called to share the Gospel with others… but it’s hard. I’m not going to talk about all the reasons why we should be involved, but instead about something I heard recently:
“Even if you don’t invite a single friend to anything (and don’t even try to), God will not love you any less. Even if you can’t make it out of bed for the whole week, God will not love you any less.”
My first reaction was “wait, but…”
I realized that perhaps I haven’t dwelt enough on what God’s grace and love really mean. I naturally like working to earn things, like money or grades or approval. Even if I’m not directly earning something, I like to feel that I’ve done something to prove I’m worthy of it.
It feels like a major shift in perspective to remember grace—what’s more, that nothing I could ever offer to God is worth anything! I have to come empty-handed. It’s such a vulnerable way to approach the almighty God, but at the same time I’m blown away by His love for someone who’s weak and well, kind of gross sometimes.
Of course I do believe that our actions can please or disappoint God, but they don’t fundamentally change His deep love for us – overflowing and unconditional, knowing us right down to the center of our being. After all, He’s our Father.
So even while endeavoring to share our faith in the coming outreach events, let’s remember God’s love and grace that are already with us in abundance, and are unchanging. With that holding us secure, we’ll be able to point others to Him even more.
