It was an honor and privilege to share a brief devotion with some of my heroes in the field while serving with Samaritan’s Purse this week. Many of these volunteers have been on the ground for several weeks, pouring themselves out in order to make the love of Christ known to those who are hurting. I wish I could share all of their stories and testimonies with you, but for now, I wanted to share the words the Lord put on my own heart below.
In 2020, when the world was collectively going through so much heartache and grief, I decided I wanted to do something great for the Kingdom of God. So, I started thinking of these huge, elaborate projects I could take on, and then thinking through all of the details of those projects, and then thinking of how I would handle a bump in the road of the projectsโand then I was exhausted by projects I hadnโt even started.
I call that my imaginary ministry, where I spend so much time thinking about what Iโll eventually do that I never actually do anything. What Holy Spirit impressed on me during this season was this:
๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ, ๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ.
This led me to create a brief outline I call:
โThree steps to Kingdom greatnessโ
Step 1:
Use His definition of greatness. In Matthew 22:36โ38, when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He replied: โLove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.โ If God defines greatness as loving Him and loving others, that had to be my first prayer: โLord, teach me to love this way.โ With all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. I believe the most important thing I can do in my life for the Kingdom of God is learn how to love. Spiritual warfare is real, and I may fail a few assignments or lose a few battles, but my decision to love Him through those battles is something the enemy of my soul canโt touch. Only this side of Heaven will I go through heartache and have the opportunity to say, โEven so, I still love You with all of my heart.โ And at the end of my life, when I meet Him face-to-face, the God of the universe tells me that’s what He will call great.
Step 2:
Recognize and cultivate His love in me. I canโt love God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind without His help. Romans 5:5 says, โHope does not put us to shame, because Godโs love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.โ This verse speaks of an outpouring of His love in us. My own love can be fickle and frail, and I need His love in my heart in order to love the way I am called to. His love will trump mine every time.
Step 3:
Be willing to obey, so His love can be perfected in me. 1 John 2:5-6 says, โWhoever obeys His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.โ When I am reading His Word, I feel His love. But when I actually obey His Word and live it out, His love is perfected in me and displayed to the world around me. Thatโs how Jesus lived, and thatโs how we are called to live. 1 John 3:18 says, โLet us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.โ
Itโs that simple:
Love Him with all my heart, cultivate His love in me, and then obey His Word so His love can pour out through me.
When I focus on these three steps, I stop asking, โIs what Iโm doing great?โ Instead, I have to ask, โAm I willing to be inconvenienced in order to show great love?โ
Great love is highly inconvenient. Sometimes it looks like giving up your worldly comforts to move to the frontlines. And sometimes it looks like dropping all the huge plans you had to do something great for God so you can get on your face in the prayer closet and remember that He is your first love and that loving Him is the number one dream of your heart.
We are not called to convenience or great acts. We are called to great love. So, Lord, teach me to love You more, and teach me to love like You more. In Jesusโ Name!
Grace Waves 