“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil.” (1 John 3:10)

I would venture to guess that no one reading this would enjoy being called a “child of the devil,” and yet that is the only alternative to being a child of God. If we are not seeking to be one of God’s “obedient children” (1 Peter 1:14), then we are by default choosing to be one of the devil’s “sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2) All of us, at some point, “lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:3) Being a child of the devil is a life full of selfishness, seeking temporary pleasure, and doing unto others what they have already done to us. It is a life that earns us nothing more than the justified wrath of the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Nevertheless, by the grace of God we “received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Romans 8:15), having been “ransomed...with the precious blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:18-19) Paul says, “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) But is that it? Should we be content with merely having been adopted into the family of God? What of the “newness of life” Paul mentions? Paul says elsewhere that we should rather “grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15) We can see a couple ways in which we need to grow when we consider the model for a child of God—Christ Himself.

“If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” (John 8:19)

Concerning Brothers

“Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God...and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.” (1 John 4:7; 5:1)

If we want to be true children of God we must love Him and the rest of His children. Earlier John says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18) Our love should not be superficial. If God’s love for us was epitomized in the humiliating and selfless act of Jesus dying on the cross, then does it follow that our love for brethren should be limited to a few kind words and well wishes? John says, “By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:16-17) How are we using what we have to serve God’s children? Do we seek to meet their needs, whatever they may be, even at our own expense? “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20) If we want to be children of God, this is an area in which we must grow.

Concerning Neighbors

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44)

Jesus says that not only do we need to love God and His children, but we need to reflect God’s love to all of mankind, even our enemies. He says that the only way we can truly be sons of our Father who is in heaven is to treat others the way that God treats man: with love, mercy, and patience. Do we truly love our enemies and pray for the people who seek to do us harm? Does that thought even cross our minds? Jesus says it must if we are to emulate God who “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45) While we certainly should love our brethren, it is certainly easier to love those who love us back, those with whom we have much in common, and those who are trying to imitate the same Father we are. That is not the extent of God’s love, though, else no man would be saved. Thanks be to God that He sought us when we were not His children. If we are to be like Him, then we must also seek to shine the light of God’s love in kindness, forgiveness, mercy, and patience to those who are not yet “a part of the family.” Else, how would they know how great the Father we claim truly is?