Commissioned: Real Love: Discovering God's Heart for YouSample

Children of God

God loves us as his own dear children! Not only does he love us with the tenderness of a father, but he will also provide for our future the way a father provides for his heirs!

The Apostle Paul writes that because we have received God’s Spirit and are led by His Spirit, we have become His children. We have been adopted into His family. The Holy Spirit “bears witness” and causes our hearts to cry out, “Abba, Father”—which means Papa! As God’s children, we have become His heirs along with Jesus Christ. That means that we will enjoy an eternal love relationship with the Father in glory, along with all those who are in Jesus Christ. We have inherited an eternal home! John, who is called the beloved Apostle, marvels at this reality: “See what love!” With excitement, John affirms that we are God’s children now and that even greater things await us—when Jesus is revealed, we shall be like Him. John says that this is why “the world”--those who do not know God--do not know the children of God.

But wait a minute. Isn’t everyone a child of God? Doesn’t God love everyone? Yes, God loves everyone and everyone is a child of God by virtue of being created in His image. But Paul and John are saying that those who turn to God in repentance and faith and receive his Spirit become his children in a new and intimate way. God wants to bring every person into this experience of family and grant each one an eternal inheritance. He has shown his love by sending his only begotten Son to die for us all. He is calling each one into his eternal family.

It is not our job to judge who is in God’s family and who isn’t. But it is our job to offer everyone the opportunity to come to God through Jesus Christ. The Church teaches us: “Although in ways known to himself, God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.” (CC 848, Ad Gentes 7)

Being a child of God carries with it a sacred obligation. John tells us to “purify ourselves as he is pure.” Paul tells us to “suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him.” Knowing that we are children of God should never cause us to think of ourselves as better than others, but instead should remind us to live as Jesus lived and to lay our lives down for others. This includes sharing with others the good news that they, too, can become God’s children through Jesus Christ.

Stop, think and pray:

Let’s take time to think about all the ways that God has cared for us as a Father cares for His children, and to give him thanks and praise. Are there ways we need to purify ourselves today? If we are suffering today, let’s remind ourselves of the glory that lies ahead for us as God’s children.