The Unpayable Debt: Learning to Love Like Christ

Brothers and sisters, have you ever stood in the field, or even just in your living room, and felt the sheer weight of the gospel’s calling? It’s an overwhelming, glorious thing. We talk so much about *sharing* the plan—about the scriptures, about the covenants, about the Atonement—and those things are vital. But sometimes, the most profound lesson isn't found in a tract or even in a scripture study; it’s found in the sheer, breathtaking *cost* of the love we are asked to share.

I was reflecting the other day on a recent gathering, and the theme kept circling back to the depth of Christ’s love. It’s a love that defies explanation, a love that demands nothing in return. It’s the kind of love that makes you realize how little we truly understand about grace.

The Unpayable Debt

The transcript excerpt I was reviewing was a beautiful, raw outpouring—a song, really—that kept repeating the core desire: “I want to know Jesus.” And when you dig into the source material, the message crystalizes around John 3:16. It’s the ultimate statement of divine grace: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…”

Think about that for a moment. We, as Latter-day Saints, are taught to believe that we are worthy of the Savior’s grace. We work on our covenants, we attend church, we try to be better. And that’s good! That’s the daily work of discipleship. But the Savior’s love, the love that paid the debt, was not earned. It was given freely. It was an unpayable gift.

This concept—the unpayable debt—is where the real challenge of missionary preparation lies. It’s not enough to just *know* the doctrine of Atonement; we must internalize the *feeling* of it. We have to move past reciting the facts and start embodying the principle.

From Theory to Practice: Being Christlike

The speaker touched on 1 Corinthians 13, listing the beautiful attributes of charity: patient, kind, not envying, not boasting, not proud. These are incredible benchmarks. But they are also incredibly high standards. It’s easy to say, "I will be patient," when we're calm. It’s much harder when we’re tired, when we’re frustrated, or when we feel misunderstood in the field.

This is where the journey of becoming a disciple—a *rogue disciple*—gets real. It’s the gap between what we preach and how we live. It’s the moment we realize that to truly teach the love of Christ, we must first be willing to let Christ refine our own hearts. We must learn to forgive easily, to serve humbly, and to love unconditionally, even when it costs us something.

“Love is patient, love is kind... it keeps no record of wrongs.”

My takeaway from this reflection, and what I hope you take away, is that our goal in the work isn't just to get people to *believe* in Christ; it's to help them *experience* the depth of His love, and in doing so, to feel the gentle, persistent nudge toward becoming more Christlike themselves.

A Little Challenge for Our Community

If the theme is learning to love like Jesus, where can we practice that this week? I encourage you to bring this concept into your personal study. If you're in a Book Club, maybe focus your discussion on passages that illustrate forgiveness or unconditional acceptance. If you’re studying scripture on your own, try using Davee. Ask him to role-play a challenging conversation with an investigator, and ask him to coach you on how to respond with the patience and kindness described in 1 Corinthians 13. That's practical missionary preparation right there.

Remember, every member can be an Internet missionary, every member can be a disciple anywhere, all the time. Let’s keep inviting the Spirit to teach us the purest form of love.

If you’d like to dive deeper into the mechanics of scripture study, check out the resources in LivingBook. For those of us who are feeling the pull toward the field, I highly recommend joining our next virtual gathering—it’s a great place to share testimonies and refine our message together. Details are in the sidebar!