When meeting someone for the first time, what is your conversation about? Chances are you introduce yourself by name, then ask “What do you do?” We have fallen into the pattern of defining ourselves by our occupation. What if we instead defined ourselves by He who made us? What if we introduced ourselves as a Child of God, and when asked “What do you do?” our answer was, “I follow Jesus”?
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. -1 John 3:1
To really “know” someone involves more than knowing their name and occupation. Truly knowing refers to a sense of intimacy, fellowship, and connection. A friend may know your name, what you do for a living, where you’re from, how many children you have, even the name of your dog. But that’s just information. The friend who walks with Jesus can connect with the heart of a fellow believer.
But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. -1 John 3:2
We become God’s children when we receive Jesus as Lord. As children of God, we are not yet perfect. We are on a journey to live a life that grows to become more and more like Christ. God loves His children enough to forgive our sins and help us overcome them, until the day we meet Christ face to face and become like him. What if that journey became our identity?
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! -1 John 3:1
