Tag Archives: 1 John

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Seeing Our Neighbor as God Does

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Is our neighbor really valued by God? It can be easy to accept our own value to the Lord, but what about our neighbor’s value? It’s a little harder when the person standing in front of us is the person who frustrates us.

The person who gets under our skin.

The person who looks different from us.

The person whose opinions make us angry.

The person who has made a mess of their life.

The person we would rather avoid than understand.

However, if we truly believe that we are God’s children, that truth should change more than the way we see ourselves. It should change the way we see other people.

1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Dwell there for a moment.

The same God who calls you His child also loves the person who frustrates you.

The same God who sees your worth sees theirs.

The same God who offers you grace offers them grace.

The same God who looks beyond your mistakes and failures is willing to look beyond theirs.

That doesn’t mean we have to agree with everyone. It doesn’t mean we excuse harmful behavior or ignore injustice. But it does mean we should be careful about reducing people to their worst moment, their appearance, their mistakes, their politics, their circumstances, or the ways they are different from us.

Before they are anything else, they are someone God created and loves.

And perhaps that is one of the greatest challenges of knowing we are God’s children: learning to look at others as if they are priceless.

What if the person who annoys you today is someone God is inviting you to see differently?

What if the person you’ve written off needs the same grace you have received?

What if, instead of asking, “Why are they like that?” we started asking, “How can I love them?”

Being a child of God isn’t just about knowing where we belong.

It’s about learning to treat the people around us like they matter to our Father, too.

Because they do.

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Your Worth: More Than Achievements

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You Are More Than What You Do

Have you ever felt like you had to prove your worth? Maybe you’ve measured yourself by your accomplishments, job, relationships, mistakes, or even what other people think about you.

While we live in a world constantly asking about accomplishments, God asks a much deeper question:  “Do you know who you are?” The Bible gives us an incredible answer in 1 John 3:1.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Think about that for a moment. We are children of God.

John doesn’t say we might become God’s children if we work hard enough. He doesn’t say we earn the title by being good enough, successful enough, or religious enough. Rather, he points us to God’s love.

We are called God’s children because he has chosen to love us and bring us into his family. This truth changes everything.

  • Your worth isn’t determined by your reputation.
  • It isn’t determined by your résumé.
  • It isn’t determined by the number of people who like you.
  • The mistakes you’ve made.
  • The things you wish you could change about your past.

Your identity is rooted in your relationship with God. You are not a stranger trying to grab God’s attention. You are his child, and children don’t have to earn their place in a family. They belong simply because they are family.

There will be days when you don’t feel valuable. There will be moments when you compare yourself to someone else and wonder if you measure up. On those days, remember what God calls you. He calls you his child.

  • Before you accomplished anything, God loved you.
  • Before you got everything right, God loved you.
  • And when you fail, His love doesn’t suddenly disappear.

When we understand our value comes from belonging to God, we don’t have to spend our lives trying to prove our worth. Perhaps that’s one of the greatest gifts God can give us. We don’t just have a place in God’s family, but we have the assurance that we are priceless because we belong to him.

Bible Study, Christian Life, Devotional, Encouragement, Inspiration, Uncategorized

They Gave Much

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“Some search for what they can take, but a true king searches for what he can give,” Mufasa says in The Lion King.

Between Me and the End of the World by Adam Hambrick reminds us there are individuals who sacrifice much for us.

 “This song is for the people who step in and serve people when things go horribly wrong,” Adam tells the Associated Press. “I have spent this quarantine watching my wife go off to work as a Physician’s Assistant to do her version of that. Testing and treating people for the virus. It has given me a new appreciation for all the people who spent their lives serving others in difficult times. It’s terrifying seeing someone you love do what they were made to do but have to do it in harm’s way.”

1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

As we celebrate Memorial Day, may we pause and remember there are men and women who have lived out John’s words to the fullest. For the good of their country, community, and family, they gave their lives. To them, we owe a debt of gratitude and appreciation.