TRUE IDENTITY

As my friend reviewed the pictures I took of her, she pointed out the physical characteristics she saw as imperfections. I asked her to look closer. “I see a beautiful and beloved daughter of the Almighty King of Kings,” I said. “I see a compassionate lover of God and others, whose genuine kindness, generosity, and faithfulness have made a difference in so many lives.” When I noticed the tears brimming her eyes, I said, “I think you need a tiara!” Later that afternoon, we picked out the perfect crown for my friend so she would never forget her true identity.

When we come to know Jesus personally, He crowns us with love and calls us His children (1 John 3:1). He gives us the power to persevere in faith so that “we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (2:28). Though He accepts us as we are, His love purifies us and transforms us into His likeness (3:2–3). He helps us recognize our need for Him and repent as we rejoice in the power to turn away from sin (vv. 7–9). We can live in faithful obedience and love (v. 10), with His truth hidden in our hearts and His Spirit present in our lives.

My friend didn’t really need a tiara or any other trinket that day. But we both needed the reminder of our worth as God’s beloved children.

Read: 1 John 2:28-3:10 (NIV)

God’s Children and Sin

28 And now, dear children,^g continue in him, so that when he appears^h 

we may be confidentⁱ and unashamed before him at his coming.^j

29 If you know that he is righteous,^k you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^l

3 1 See what great love^m the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!ⁿ 

And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^o 

2 Dear friends,^p now we are children of God,^q and what we will be has not yet been made known.

But we know that when Christ appears,^a r we shall be like him,^s for we shall see him as he is.^t 

3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^u just as he is pure.^v

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^w 

5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^x And in him is no sin.^y 

6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^z No one who continues to sin has either seen him^a or known him.^b

7 Dear children,^c do not let anyone lead you astray.^d The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^e 

8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^f because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

The reason the Son of God^g appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^h 

9 No one who is born of Godⁱ will continue to sin,^j because God’s seed^k remains in them;

they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 

10 This is how we know who the children of God^l are and who the children of the devil^m are:

Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not loveⁿ their brother and sister.^o

INSIGHT

1. What personal faults and past failings have you allowed to determine your identity?
2. How can knowing you’re loved, chosen, and crowned as God’s child help you live in righteousness and love?

First John 2:28–3:10 contains two intertwined themes: being children of God and acting like His children. In 2:29, John writes that “everyone who does what is right has been born of [God].” In 3:10, the idea is framed in the negative: anyone “[not doing] what is right is not God’s child.” In between these two verses, John builds on the idea of our actions corresponding to our identity in Christ. Jesus proclaimed the same truth when He said that a tree is known by its fruit (Luke 6:43–45).

PRAYER

Loving God, thank You for reminding me that who I am is based on whose I am—Yours, simply Yours. In Jesus name, I give thanks. Amen!!

Read: 1 John 2:28-3:10 (NIV)  | Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 45-46; 1 John 2