1 John 3:23-24: “23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
John writes that God’s commandment is that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ and then follow the commandment Jesus gave us in John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John says that we show and we prove that Jesus lives inside of us by keeping this commandment to love one another like Jesus has loved us and also by the Spirit whom God has given us. According to 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, the Holy Spirit comes in and guarantees your salvation. People that don’t know Jesus aren’t considering things like, “I should read my Bible, I should pray about this, what would God want me to do, etc.” Instead, they’re doing whatever feels right at the time. They’re finding gray areas to operate and justifying their sinful behavior.
That’s not what God called Christians to do. In 1 John 2:1, John says, “I write these things to you so that you may not sin.” He’s writing these books of the Bible so that you won’t sin and that you won’t be led by sin. 1 John 2:6 says, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” If you belong to Jesus, your goal should be to walk like Jesus walked. Read through the accounts of Jesus’ life. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John never mention that Jesus was gossiping. They never mention that Jesus was making fun of the fat guy that fell over trying to see Him. They don’t mention Jesus falling asleep in the Synagogues when the priests were teaching. They don’t mention Jesus sharing inappropriate memes with His friends or using profanity day to day. We’ve normalized all this stuff and think, “Well, God will forgive me.” He will, but is that what you should be doing? Is that the witness you put out there for everyone to see? Also, when the Holy Spirit convicts you of these things, are you repenting? Are you actively asking God to forgive you and when you’re doing that, are you still doing the things you’re asking God to forgive you of? When we repent, we should turn away from those sins.
But listen to the last part of verse 1: “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.” In other words: But when you do sin, you have an Advocate with God in Jesus Christ. We all sin, but our whole goal as Christian people is to live righteously and live the way God wants us to live. We know we’re going to sin, we know we’re going to mess up, but we have to understand that when we do sin, we run back to Jesus. Our sin should not be intentional either. We shouldn’t intend to sin. When I was younger, I had a wreck and took out a brick mailbox. I was still on my parents’ car insurance and had to tell them what had happened so they’d know the rates were about to go up. The big problem: This happened on April Fool’s Day and was really early in the morning. My dad thought I was kidding, but I had to tell him what had happened. As children of God, we’re just like that. You need to run to your Heavenly Father and ask Him for help, for forgiveness, and for advice.
We have to change our focus if we want to walk like Jesus walked. 1 John 2:15-17 tells us, “15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Don’t love the things of this world: Money, fame, celebrities, food, drink, video games, sports, music, movies, TV, social media. Those things are all dying, this world is dying. Prophecy is being fulfilled day after day after day. Focus on the things that are eternal. That’s how Paul instructs us in Colossians 3:1-2, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Change your focus, put your focus on Jesus. Worship the Lord. Not only in here by singing, but giving Him your full undivided attention during times when you read the Bible, are in church/youth group, or here in chapel. When your focus is on Him, things change. Your attitude changes, your behavior changes, your mouth gets under control, your work ethic changes. Colossians 3:23-24 is one of my favorite verses and I used to have it in my office as a reminder: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” When you’re at your job, stressed from the kid that won’t stop misbehaving or another mandate from your administration or you’re bored from stocking shelves or making your 30th sub and scooped up your 20th bucket of fried chicken or interacting with that parent or that customer that just cussed you out, who are you doing it for? Are you doing it for a paycheck or are you doing it for Jesus? Are you doing it for your boss or for Jesus? Are you doing it for yourself or for the glory of God? What a shift in perspective.
When your focus is on Jesus, things change. The Bible says the natural man – or those who aren’t saved – cannot receive the things of the Holy Spirit. Focus on Jesus and that stress or frustration that has been boiling up with start to seem insignificant compared to the glory of God. Then you’ll be able to love like Jesus wants us to love.
This is part of a summer blog series to re-energize our faith in Christ. Choose the category “Re-Energizing Our Faith” to read more!