Written by Brian Drinkwine 

The truth of God's love for us is one of the greatest mysteries ever introduced to the human race. Why would God, being so powerful and incredible, ever want to love people so small, so broken, and so messed up as us? Yet God chose, before the creation of time itself, to adopt you as His child and give you a life worth more than anything else in the world. Jesus said that the reason he came to die for us was so that we could "have life, and have it to the full." Can you imagine, as awe-inspiring as our relationship with God is now, how full life will be when we meet Him in Heaven?

When we encounter the love of Christ for the first time, something begins to change in us. It becomes easier to love, more exhilarating to worship, and more exciting when we get to know God better. We become transformed. We begin to evolve.

The following are the three primary areas of emphasis for this month in Launch:

Evolve: commit

Following Jesus means drawing a line and stepping across.

What are you committed to? Is it worth it? No matter where we are in our spiritual journeys, God is always there pointing out that His plan for us far exceeds the plans we could make for ourselves. When we commit our hearts to Christ, we might feel like we're not ready, like we might get hurt, or like we might lose the people we love. The truth is, however, that we will never be ready for God. He is simply too big, too powerful, and far to incredible for us to ever measure up. That is the wonder of God's love. No matter how small or unready or unwilling we are, He loves us and has plans for us and wants us to commit to something worth living for: namely, Himself. So have you committed your heart to God's purpose for your life? Have you surrendered your life to His plans? If not, could this be the day to "nail it down"? Perhaps at this very moment, as you encounter these words, God is whispering into your ear: "Commit, my child. Commit to my son, Jesus. Commit to me." There is no greater opportunity than this, so go ahead. Draw a line in the sand and step across into this uncharted place that we call Christ following.

Evolve: tell

The first thing God wants me to do is tell others how He changed me.

I have a friend named Ashley. When I was in high school, we went to prom together. We have been close friends for years now and even today, as we have gone our separate ways in life, I regard Ashley as a good friend and remarkable person. A few years ago, Ashley was diagnosed with a bone cancer in her leg. Everyone she knew was devastated for her. She was 19 years old. After several rounds of chemo and multiple ups and downs of treatments and tests, the doctors had all but given up on her. Then, one day, with no warning, she went into the hospital to take some tests and the spots of cancer had mysteriously disappeared. Since that time, Ashley has had other bouts with this horrible disease. But at that moment, the elation of what we saw made me want to tell everyone I knew, which I did.

When anything this amazing happens, we want to tell as many people as possible. This is why we have the New Testament today. A bunch of guys were so amazed at God's love for them through Jesus, that they wrote letters to everyone they knew and told as many people as possible. When we become followers of Christ, the Bible instructs us to tell people, and it says to do this through baptism. As amazing as it is to experience God's love in our lives, we should never hesitate to take the first steps in letting people know about the great change He is working in our hearts.

Evolve: train

We get to know God even better when we practice.

There comes a time in each of our lives when we can't simply sit around any longer. It's just not enough to say we follow Jesus. We have to add some skill to our passion. We have to add some practice so that when the game day of life hits us hard, we can be ready to face the challenges we encounter. We must learn to fast and pray so that we become more dependent on God. We must study the Bible, worship, and learn the discipline of tithing so that we can unveil the character of God. And we must serve and spend time together as Christ followers so that we can help each other grow in love and character. In essence, we must practice what it means to be a follower of Jesus, because life is not merely about knowing that God loves us. It is about learning to return the love passionately toward God and find ourselves wholly committed to His purpose for our lives.