Picture this: You are sitting knees to knees with someone you love and trust, looking each other in the eyes. The light is soft, and they are holding your face in their hands. You feel warm. This person has experienced the worst and best of you. Their knowledge of you is deep and intimate; their judgment of you is fair and true.

They speak, “I love you.” You believe them.

Your capacity to trust the person who says this will depend on your history. Most of us mask our lack of capacity to trust and receive people’s love with spiritual achievements and knowledge. We are works in process. God is patient, gracious, and consistent. He promises to conform us to the image of Christ, which includes embodying his love.
Have you received and trusted God’s love in a personal, even mystical way? God is love, and every Christian knows that love is the most important aspect of being in God’s family. If so, then why do we frequently fall so short?

We live in a fallen world. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus came to redeem the world, set us free, and give us new life. This sanctifying process takes a lifetime. In the meantime, we are becoming people who love through suffering and trials.

When I went to reach the unreached as a 28-year-old with my wife and daughter, I said all the right things. But I was immature, full of shame, and desperate to be accepted. I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way and treated people accordingly. I was far from love.

Unfortunately, my story is not uncommon, but God is bigger than our failure to love. He calls us into his family and into his mission knowing full well how messed up we are. Nonetheless, he loves each of us in our messed-up state.

In this issue of MF, we dive into God's love and missions. One thing you will not find in this issue is a theoretical, abstract look at love. Why do people go to the unreached and unengaged? Why should they go? The authors look inward and outward. The theme and message are consistent, but each writer is shaped by his or her unique experience. Combined, the authors have spent hundreds of years in cross-cultural ministry. They have each learned from the crucible of suffering and have come out with a deeper sense of God’s love and a larger capacity to love him and their neighbors.

God the Father said to Jesus before he had done anything, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well- pleased” (Mark 1:11). He says the same thing to each of us. If only each of us could hear and believe him before heading out to love the world. Most of us head to the mission field without embodying this reality.

God, in his grace, uses our failures to grow us into loving people. It’s a journey through pain and suffering bordered by grace and mercy. Some of us would benefit from waiting, but for most of us, crossing cultures is within God’s good plan to redeem the world—and us. Dive into this issue devotionally. Make space for God to speak. For some of us, reading this will be the most fruitful thing we do this month.

That all the world may experience God’s love, 
Duke Dillard