Children of God

1 John 2:28-3:10 (NLT)

28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.29 Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.

3 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 10 So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

According to this passage, how has God shown unconditional love for you?

How do you feel about being a child of God?

Sometimes, it is hard for us to relate to God as our Heavenly Father, because we may not have had a good relationship with our earthly father. We need to remember that our earthly fathers are not perfect, but our Heavenly Father is perfect. Our Heavenly Father loved us so much that He sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins. Our Heavenly Father wants to spend eternity with us.

Write a prayer of praise to God for being your Heavenly Father.