The problem is that she can recognize that these people don’t always live out their faith. In spite of their appearance of being good they speak poorly of others, they gossip, they lie and cheat. Others, who are less showy in their faith, exhibit their holiness in their actions, by caring about others, by being kind, by sacrificing of what they have.
In this first letter from John we have a description of what a real Christian might look like. How is God’s love made complete? How can we recognize someone who lives in Christ?
If we examine ourselves and the fruit that we bear we can see that we should be bearing fruit that is a reflection of God. Our fruit – the things that we accomplish, the things that we do – should be an expression of God’s love. Our fruit should be an obedience of what God has commanded – love your neighbor, care for the less fortunate. When we are able to do these things then God’s love is being lived out in us and it becomes complete, flowing from God to us and from us to others.
We can call ourselves “Christians.” We can claim that Jesus is living in our hearts. But for God’s love to truly be in us, for the Spirit of Christ to dwell in our hearts, we must walk as Jesus walked. We must offer care and forgiveness to those around us. We must seek out what is best and beneficial for others, and be willing to sacrifice ourselves for those in need.
If we will bear good fruit for God we must live as Jesus did. We must love, forgive, care and teach, and do all of this with a pure heart and humble attitude.
DAILY CHALLENGE: How will you walk as Jesus did today?
