God’s children avoid sin
Key Verses: 2, 9, 10, 16, 23, 24
When Christ returns, we will see Him and in that seeing we will be changed. We will become like Him. I don’t know what all that will entail. Some of that will be our purity. There will be no sin! And life without sin will be a very different type of life.
When we become true followers of Jesus, something fundamentally changes in us. The grip sin had on our lives is broken. We can choose to obey. Our conduct begins to match our new confession. What we say we believe becomes what we live. The disconnect between what we say and what we do narrows. Our lives begin to look more like Jesus. Our character becomes purer.
One specific thing we see when people are really changed is love. This is not the squishy sentimental love portrayed in the media. It is a deep abiding care and concern for our fellow human beings, even for the neighbor we don’t like. Outsiders should be able to see that we love each other. They should see that love in word and action. When someone in our midst is hurting, we should be there with care baked in a nine by twelve baking dish, rubber gloves and cleaning supplies in the trunk of the car. Love will be shown in practical ways.
And when we do this, it will be inconvenient! It will cost us time and energy. We will have to give up some of what we wanted to do in order to love. Love costs us something, just as Jesus’ love for us cost Him His life. If it costs us nothing, then it probably isn’t God’s kind of love. If it fits on a Hallmark card, or a Pinterest pin, then it probably isn’t love. Love costs us our lives!
The Jesus-follower’s life can be summed up in two statements: Believe in Jesus and love one another. You can’t say you do one without doing the other. These are inseparable. These are not external demands on the believer’s life. They are the lifeblood. They flow from within, once someone has been born of God.
The presence of the Spirit in our lives demonstrates that we are alive in Him. And His Spirit changes us from the inside out. Our desires change. Our wants change. And we can choose to change our actions in response to His love for us. He never forces those changes, but he can make disobedience pretty uncomfortable.
The Arnold Journey 