If “sentness” is built into your new identity as a Child of God, then if you don’t “go” as an agent of Shalom of God to the world, you are not living out your identity and are missing out on the best God has for you.

Author Allen Hirsch said: “Every Christian is a sent one. There is no such thing as an unsent Christian.” One of the greatest joys of being a Christian is that Christ has chosen to include us in His mission of reconciliation and renewal in this broken world. He saved us so He could send us, and in our sent-ness, we realize even more the extent of our saved-ness. We are a part of the family of God and also part of the “Family Business” – the renewal of all things for the sake of God’s glory and humanity’s flourishing. God is in the business of Shaloming the hell out of the world and He invites His kids to be a part of this mission. We have been sent out as harvesters in this great field of souls, participating with the Holy Spirit in sowing seeds of salvation into the ready soil of lives longing for Shalom and hungry for the redemption, reconciliation, and renewal promised in the gospel (Matthew 13:1-9; Luke 10:1-12).

Have you ever felt like someone was just loving you in order to get something from you? Have you ever used love to try and get something from someone else? How does God love us and how does He ask us to love Him and others?

Real love… That is the only thing that can produce real Shalom in your life and in your community. There’s “fake shalom” everywhere because there’s fake love everywhere. How do you know if it’s fake love or real? You know it’s real love if it’s free love. That means it’s love that costs you nothing… love that doesn’t have strings attached to it. Love that isn’t codependent on you doing something, or paying something…