But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you (vv1-4)
Just a simple thought I had today while reading the scriptures is this: much of God’s word and His promises cannot be experienced without first taking the initiative to go and make your own disciples for Christ.
Looking at Paul’s description of his relationship with the Corinthian church reveals human this experience is. Through the course of serving God and being obedient to the commission of the Christ, Paul’s life was full of great emotion spurred on by sacrificial love for them. Of course, this love is the love that Jesus first loved us.
How then can one really experience the love of God without first loving others in the same way He loved us? The great commissions are fulfilled when you take the initiative with people and seek after them. God found us in places from where there was no return, yet He is able to save and restore.
Therefore much of the Scripture such as the experiences of Paul and other missionaries cannot be experienced or lived out unless one is obedient to the great commission. It’s a privilege to be hearers of the Word, but its a joy to be doers of the Word.
J. C. Walz – Faith, Fiction, and DEvotional Writing 
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