TAKING A LOOK AT 1 JOHN

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.”- 1 John 5:1-2 New Living Translation

     Here in chapter 5 we find John continuing on about loving our family members. When we give our lives over to Christ, we become a part of God’s family. As in real life, we do not choose who is in our family. And just like our earthly family, we don’t always see eye to eye with every member of the family. The same is true with God’s family. We aren’t perfect either so perhaps it is best to try to see things from the other individual’s point of view and go along with them or agree to disagree. The one thing we should always be able to agree on is that Christ is Lord and will come back for us one day. 

     Understand that we are not being commanded to be best friends with everyone in the family of God. We are commanded to accept them for who they are and love them with the love of Christ. As I mentioned in yesterday’s devotional, we must strive to see them as God sees them. God sees us all without prejudice or preconceived notions tainting his view. Sadly, we cannot boast that same ability.

     In this day and age we see many charlatans posing as believers to take advantage of kindhearted brethren.  It places a black mark next to the name Christian and makes is that much more difficult to trust congregation members and others outside the church who profess to know Christ. We must hone our ability to discern that which is from God and that which is not. It’s not necessarily a gift, but rather a spiritual skill we can develop. For those who follow the Marvel comic book and cinematic universe, it’s like having Spiderman’s “Spidey-sense”. Being distrustful of others no matter who they are may not be a very Christian trait, but it seems to be the route many, myself included, are taking lately. Would that we could trust the Lord enough to love all and let God guide us as we go. May it be so, Lord. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible.