The First Door: Proactive Passion – The Initiating Nature of Mature Love

When the love of God matures in a believer, it does not wait. It moves first.

In apostolic work, we often teach that assignment flows from identity. But in the dimension of love, we discover that agape both reveals and activates identity. The love of Christ is not reactionary. It is not passive. It is intentional, directional, and driven by obedience to the Father.

• It is intentional because it is jealous for what belongs to the Father. Mature love makes deliberate choices that protect covenant, not comfort. It guards fellowship and pursues reconciliation on purpose, not on impulse.
• It is directional because it flows from the Father's heart toward the Father's mission. Proactive love does not wander aimlessly. It is aimed at redemption. It moves to restore what has been broken, not to maintain polite distance.
• It is driven by obedience because it is yielded to the will of the One who loved us first. This love moves not when it is easy, but when it is right. It acts out of surrender, not convenience.

This is the first of five doors we must walk through if we are to demonstrate the nature of Christ in community: Proactive Passion.

What Is Proactive Passion?

Proactive passion is not emotionalism. It is not hype. It is not religious performance.

It is a decision to act in love before others earn it, expect it, or understand it. This kind of love initiates. It serves before the need is spoken. It forgives before the apology is offered. It restores before others qualify themselves.

Jesus did not wait for consensus. He did not serve only when He was seen. He operated from a posture of obedience and clarity, not from emotional confirmation.

"Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper and laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet…”
(John 13:3–5, NASB)

He moved first. He got low. He served those who would misunderstand the act. He washed the feet of the one who would betray Him. This is proactive passion.

A Culture That Waits Is a Culture That Withholds

One of the key dysfunctions we face in modern church life is conditional love. We wait for others to come to us. We withhold love until we feel it is safe. We measure out service based on past behavior or emotional safety.

This may be common, but it is not Kingdom.

In contrast, the love of God acts early. Jesus wept over Jerusalem before they rejected Him. He prepared provision for the five thousand before they voiced their hunger. He extended restoration to Peter before Peter could prove he had changed.

This kind of love does not wait. It moves in step with the Father, not in reaction to people.

Proactive Passion in Practice

Here are signs that you are walking in this door:

• You reconcile without waiting for an apology
• You initiate restoration without needing a response
• You serve others when there is no guarantee of reciprocity
• You act in love without certainty that others will understand
• You give honor even when dishonor is present

This is not weakness. This is maturity. This is the kind of love that reveals heaven’s nature on earth.

Why We Must Lead in This

If we say we are apostolic, we must carry the culture of the One who was sent. Jesus did not come to defend Himself. He came to reveal the Father. He did not wait for the world to love Him first. He came while we were still sinners and initiated the greatest act of love in history.

This means apostolic people must walk in a love that moves before others do. We are not here to match energy or mirror behavior. We are here to reveal the nature of the One who moves first.

The Key That Opens This Door: Mercy

We cannot walk through this door without mercy. Mercy is what empowers proactive passion. Mercy remembers what was given to us, and therefore gives it to others. Mercy removes the need for performance and frees us to love in advance.

Mercy sees others according to the intention of God, not the history of man. That is why mercy allows us to love those who misunderstand us, and to serve even when honor is not returned.

If we do not carry mercy, we will hesitate to initiate love. We will guard ourselves instead of giving ourselves. But when mercy is present, love moves.

Conclusion

Proactive passion is not a suggestion. It is the starting point. If we do not move first, we will never grow up in love. If we wait for others to act before we obey, we are not walking in the pattern of Christ.

Jesus moved first. And if He lives in us, we will too.

This is Door One. Love acts before it is asked. Love moves before it is understood. Love serves because the Father said so.

Next: Door Two – Truth in Love. Why Confrontation Is a Function of Fellowship