Life is like a box of chocolates, but it shouldn't be for Christians!
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1 John 3 Summary
Forrest Gump would have loved the theology John sets forth in this third chapter. As his mother always said, 'Stupid is as stupid does.' The logic holds true for Christians: Christians are as Christ would do.
In his elegant writing style, John makes this simple point abundantly clear:
If you continue sinning, you're of the devil (v8).
If you practice righteousness, you're of God (v10).
Thankfully the fact that we stumble and fall into sin every day doesn't mean we are no longer in Christ. John doesn't mean Christians can become perfect and sinless in this life, what he means is that once a Christian realizes their sin has caused them to trip and fall on their face, they stop sinning and repent.
It may be that you may trip again this afternoon and tomorrow and the day after over the same sin. An unbeliever won't be upset that they continue to fall (or even notice that they have fallen), but one who is living in Christ will recognize their brokenness, repent of the sin, and strive to not do it anymore.
Dig Deeper
Christians and Christianity are less and less tolerated in our ever increasingly 'tolerant' society. For many of us, this represents a dramatic shift from the way life used to be in which almost everyone we knew lived a mostly Christian lifestyle, and it seems shocking to see society abandon the Biblical principles which have brought so much blessing.
But we should not be surprised at all. The reason that the world can not tolerate Christianity, John tells us, is because it could not tolerate Christ (v1). Society turned on Jesus in the span of a week. They sang His praises as He marched triumphantly into Jerusalem, but just a few days later they formed into a riotous protesting mob demanding He be executed.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Expect to be hated because you love Jesus (v13).
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God is greater than our heart and he knows everything (v20).
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God that your love for Him and others would not be just in word or talk but in deed and truth (v19)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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