When our hearts condemn us: Our hope as God’s children

Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.

This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.” (1 John 3:18–20)

“He knows all things.”

As I read that, I thought about Peter’s words to Jesus in John 21.

“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17)

And Jesus did know, even better than Peter did. He knew that Peter loved him enough that one day he would die for him. (John 21:18-19)

He knew Peter’s weaknesses.

He knew Peter’s sins and failures.

He knew Peter’s future sins as well.

But he also knew that Peter loved him and wanted to be like him.

And that’s what marks a child of God. They want to be like the Lord they love.

As John puts it,

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.

And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

No, we’re not perfectly like Jesus now. But as children of God, we long to be.

We can’t wait for the day when we are made perfect. And because we can’t wait, like a small child learning to walk, we take steps now to become more like Jesus, faltering though those steps may be.

We start walking like Jesus does. (1 John 2:6)

We start loving like Jesus does. (1 John 3:16-18)

And when we stumble, and our hearts start condemning us, our Father picks us up and reassures us, saying, “I know you still love me. Keep walking.”

See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! (1 John 3:1)