Behold what love
Devotional for November 21 · 1 John 3:1 · 12-minute read
1Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure. 4Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
Context
The first letter of John was probably written at the end of the first century (c. AD 85–100) to churches shaken by a split. Some had left the fellowship, taking with them teachings that confused believers about Jesus and about sin (2:19, 26). John, traditionally identified with the apostle, writes as an elderly spiritual father, calling his readers “little children” and “beloved.” His goal is for them to know that they have eternal life and to live accordingly.
Chapter 3 begins right after John speaks about being “born of Him” (2:29). The language of family runs through the whole letter: God is Father, believers are children, brothers and sisters must love one another. In this passage John brings together three times: what the Father has already done (called us children), what we do not yet see (what we will be) and how we live while we wait (purifying ourselves and practicing righteousness).
What the text says
- v. 1: The opening verb is an invitation to look: “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us.” Love is described as something given, a gift, not an achievement.
- v. 2: “Beloved, we are now children of God.” The identity is already real in the present, even though “what we will be has not yet been revealed.”
- v. 3: Hope has a practical effect: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.”
Reflection
John does not begin with a command, but with amazement. “Behold,” he says, like someone pointing at something that must not be missed. And what he points to is not an extraordinary spiritual experience, but a fact: the Father has given us love to the point that we are called children of God. In the Bible, receiving a name is not just getting a nickname; it is receiving an identity. And in the very next verse John insists that this is not just a figure of speech: “we are now children of God.”
It is interesting to notice how the New Testament describes this sonship in two ways. Paul uses the language of adoption (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5): we were received into a family that was not ours, with all the rights of a child. John prefers the language of birth: whoever believes is “born of Him” (2:29; John 1:12-13). The two images complete each other. Through adoption, God gives us a legal place in the family. Through the new birth, He gives us a new life, one that resembles His. We are not just forgiven and left at the door; we are brought inside the house.
John is also honest about the cost. “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” Those who live as God’s children will not always be understood, and neither was Jesus. This frees us from a common trap: looking to people’s applause to confirm who we are. The identity of a child does not come from social media, from a résumé or from the family we grew up in. It comes from the Father’s word. For someone who grew up without a father, with an absent or wounded father, this can be hard to receive, and it is okay to go slowly. The Father John speaks of is known in Jesus, who welcomed children, sinners and outcasts.
Then John looks ahead: “what we will be has not yet been revealed.” The Christian life has an already and a not yet. We are already children; we are not yet all that we will be. The promise is that when Christ appears, we will be like Him. John does not describe the details, and it is wise not to invent what he did not say.
Finally, hope changes the present. Whoever knows where they are going starts to get ready: “purifies himself, just as Christ is pure” (v. 3). Holiness here is not the price for becoming a child, but the consequence of already being one. A beloved child does not obey in order to earn the house; they obey because they already belong to it. Today, before doing anything for God, receive what He says about you. Then live like someone who is part of the family.
Connections
- John 1:12 (cross-reference): To those who received Jesus, He gave the right to become children of God: the foundation of the identity in 1 John 3:1.
- Romans 8:15-16 (cross-reference): Paul describes the same sonship with the language of adoption and of the Spirit who cries “Abba! Father!”
- Galatians 4:4-7 (cross-reference): Christ came so that we might receive adoption as sons and no longer be slaves.
To apply
- Heart: where have I been drawing my identity from this week: from other people’s opinions, from my performance or from what the Father says about me?
- Relationships: how would I treat the people in my church if I remembered that they too are sons and daughters of the same Father?
- Today: write the words of 1 John 3:2, “we are now children of God,” somewhere visible, and read them out loud in the morning and at night.
Prayer
Father, what great love You have given me! You call me Your child, and in Jesus I truly am Yours. I confess that I often look for my identity in what others think, in what I produce or in the wounds of my story, and I forget what You have said. I surrender to You my past and my future, which has not yet been revealed. Teach me to live as someone in Your family, to purify myself with hope and to love my brothers and sisters. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
To memorize: 1 John 3:1
Today's step: In the next 24 hours, whenever you feel belittled or compared, repeat silently “we are now children of God” and make one choice that fits that identity.
To go deeper: read 1 John 3–4 and get to know New Birth.