Every human being who comes to know God receives four messages. Each one of them is profound and life-changing, but not because of the words. It is the experience of the Presence that shatters the previous life of loneliness and pain and points the way to a new beginning.

Nevertheless, each message becomes part of the person's mission, and the message shared is multiplied as it spreads from person to person. The messages are the heart and soul of mission. They form the greater circle that encompasses everything we do.

The first message is, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). This statement made by Jesus as he departed from his disciples is conveyed by God to every human being. Perhaps not with words, but in Spirit's way, it becomes clear; we are not alone.

In 1934 while at Ross Barrier, Little America, South Pole, Admiral Richard E. Byrd sensed God's love. Admiral Byrd was collecting scientific data and, as it turned out, data about humanity. He stood outside, more utterly alone than all but a few of us ever are, and he wrote that he felt a rhythm, a warmth – standing in the coldest cold on earth – which went to the heart of man's despair and found it groundless.

This is a message we are called to share. It is part of our mission no matter what we do.

… The second message we receive is that we are God's beloved. In John's first letter, he calls those to whom he is writing “beloved.” When Jesus was baptized he heard the same message: “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17). This is true of each of us in spite of what we have done or not done or what has been done to us. God's nature is love, and we are going to be loved and cherished whether we believe we deserve it or not!

… The third and fourth messages are akin to one another: The third was expressed by Jesus when he addressed the woman caught in adultery. She feared for her life, for the punishment of adultery was death, and the men who brought her to Jesus were prepared to carry out the sentence. Trembling and weeping, she covered herself at Jesus' feet. The men asked him, “What do you say about her?” (John 8:5) Jesus stooped down, wrote in the sand and said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her (John 8:7). Slowly the men tossed their stones aside and walked away. Jesus turned his attention to the woman: “'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, ‘No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again'” (John 8:10-11).

Love does not condemn. We are always loved and cherished, but many of us do not feel it because of guilt and self-condemnation. Rather than assisting others in releasing condemnation, we sometimes reinforce it; however, when love is our mission, condemnation falls away. We may suggest to others that they cease their debilitating behavior, as Jesus did to the woman …but we declare no one guilty. In fact, love goes the extra mile, for it does not demand that people act in a certain way.

This brings us to the fourth message. When love is our mission, we cease trying to fix people. The old mission of trying to repair others, ourselves and the world is no more. Love does not aspire to perform maintenance upon those who appear broken. Instead, love says, “I accept you just the way you are.”

Acceptance will show us another world and help create a guilt- and condemnation-free atmosphere where people can find themselves. There is no need to be defensive, for no one is holding limiting thoughts about anyone. Acceptance is one of the most wonderful gifts we can share with the human family, but before it becomes a mission-message we share with the world, we must accept ourselves as we are.
 

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This excerpt is from Jim Rosemergy's Unity House® book, The Quest for Meaning: Living a Life of Purpose.

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