Acceptance of us into His life beyond the worst that could be done to Him or to us

STEPS TOWARD GENUINE LOVE - The first element in the spiritual formation of our social dimension is for individuals to come to see themselves whole, as God himself sees them—to regard themselves as blessed no matter what has happened. 

This vision of wholeness in God draws the poisons from our relationships with others and enables us to go forward with sincere forgiveness and blessing toward them. Only in this way can we stand free from the wounds of the past and from those who have assaulted or forsaken us. 

The second element is abandonment of all defensiveness. This includes a willingness to be known in our most intimate relationships for who we really are. It includes abandonment of practices of self-justification, evasiveness, and deceit, as well as manipulation. We do not hide, and we do not follow strategies for “looking good.” 

As pretense vanishes from our lives, the third element in this transformation of the self comes forward: love among Christians that is “genuine” (Romans 12:9, NRSV). Love characterizes local gatherings of disciples (churches) so that each person carries out her particular work in the group life with a grace and power that is not from herself but from God (see Romans 12:3-8). 

The fourth element is to extend ourselves in blessing and redemption to all whose lives we touch. Without the burden of defending ourselves, we can act from the resources of our new life from above and devote our lives to the service of others. Such formation in Christ requires that we increasingly be happily reconciled to living by the direct upholding of the hand of God. Certainly, to achieve this in our social dimension we must have heard and accepted the gospel of grace: of Jesus’ defenseless death on the cross on our behalf and of his acceptance of us into his life beyond the worst that could be done to him or to us. We must stand safe and solid in his kingdom.