Carissimi filii Dei | God's Children

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. —1 John 3:10

My dear brothers and sisters,

The Apostle John in this passage gives a sweet explanation to us that we are children of God.  Our relationship with our God is so close that we can call Him: Father. 

As our Father, God certainly knows us and knows our needs.  Based on this reading I would like to say that our most important need is the removal of our sins or cleansing ourselves from our sins so that we can truly live as children of God.  Because if we sin, we are breaking the law of God, who is our own Father.

Every time we commit sin, we should realize that God, our Father, always provides the best way for us to be able to see our true selves, namely that we are children who are so loved by Him.  We have been redeemed by the Son of God, so that through him, sin has no has power and we can live well with God, our Father.

Brothers and sisters, that is the love of God, our Father, so great for us, his children.  Because he knows us, he knows our most important need, which is the cleansing of ourselves or the removal of our sins, so that we can live well with him.

Then what must we do to repay God's great love for us?  The Apostle John in this passage shows us, what we must do to repay the love of God, our Father, who has showed his love for us.  So what we need to do is: First, We should be grateful.  We are grateful because even though the world does not know us, God, our Father knows who we are.  

We should also be grateful that he has redeemed us from the power of sin.  We have a free will to leave God because of our sin and so that, we are no longer attached to God.  But God redeemed us from the power of sin, so that we can return to him and live well with him. So don't forget to thank God, our Father, for his great love for us. 

Second, we promise not to sin anymore and try to fight to avoid sin.  This is our struggle. But God knows that we struggle with our sins, so he will not remain silent.  He will help us and restore us as children created for goodness.

Let us give thanks to God, our Father who loves us so much and promise to strive to overcome our sins with his help, so that we can enjoy a life full of happiness. Amen.

Reflection on 1 John 3:1-10 by Fr. Risco Batbual, SVD

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