The mission

Hey👋🏿,

A perfect man came, lived, died, and resurrected. He made himself an offering in place of others, in repayment of the debt of sin that He didn't owe, and He did this for you and me, granting us grace and salvation, and removing the old man and clothing us with His righteousness, giving us the right to be called children of God. The Gospel doesn't get more straightforward than this.

Now, Jesus, who is the perfect man, gave us His final command while on Earth. In Matthew 28:18-20, He said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

A very straightforward command, with no hidden meaning, yet a lot of us have ignored this command in one way or the other, prioritizing our personal goals over the Kingdom of God so subtly that it takes some self-evaluation to see where we've erred.

I, as a person, struggle with actual speaking, both on social media and physically, so I feel comfortable behind the pen. I sometimes call it hiding; sometimes, I remind myself that there are various ministries, and that I'm grateful I'm doing something, at the least.

But look at Paul, a man so staunchly rooted in Christ that he views marriage as a distraction from his goal of attaining the Kingdom of God. Every breathing moment of Paul could literally have been spent thinking of ways he could do more for God. Paul was one of the most traveled apostles of them all, and because of his past, he felt he needed to do more, work harder.

As he said in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

But irrespective of all this, Paul picked the baton he was handed and made the most of it. A very relatable writer, a hardworking tent maker, a traveling apostle, and he made the most of wherever he ended up. Snake bite? That could not end his ministry.

As he wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

Now, it's up to you: where are you carrying the Gospel this week? Who are you introducing to the love of God this week? You have a mission. Have a blessed week 🤍.

Your accountability partner in Christ,

Gloria

Shalom