1 John 3:1-3 (NRSV)
Read 1 John 3:1-3 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 3See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Verse 2Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. Verse 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Devotion
I remember singing the song “Kids of the Kingdom” in our church’s children’s choir. When I read today’s text, that was the first thing that popped into my mind. I had to do a little internet search to see if I was recalling the song correctly, and of course, there is an old recording you can listen to on YouTube. Listening to it made me chuckle a bit—the things that stick with you through the years. It was the mid-1980s when I would have sung it, but the promise has stuck with me. We are God’s beloved children, that’s what we are. Unfortunately, that is not the promise everyone hears. Too often, the world tries to offer other labels. If I adapt the words of this simple song, “Children of God, that’s what we are. Children of God, that’s what we are.” That is how we live, knowing and trusting that we are beloved children of God, transformed to see our neighbors as the same.
Prayer
Loving God, transform our hearts and minds to remember who we are and whose we are. Send us into the world with your love and reveal to us the belovedness of our neighbor. Amen.
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