Just Say No
Opening Prayer
Thank God for your friends and family. Pray now for those who do not yet know and follow Jesus.
Read 1 John 2:28-3:10
[28] And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. [29] If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. [1] See what great love the Father has lavished on 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. [2] Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. [3] All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. [4] Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. [5] But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. [6] No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. [7] Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. [8] The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. [9] No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. [10] This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
How can we know we are "born of God"?In these verses John lays out his message very clearly. We are children of God (2). What a wonderful statement! Jesus came so that he might take away our sins and obliterate them completely from the record. Hallelujah! Although we still sin, children of God, who are living according to God’s will, cannot habitually sin. Those who do, who never try to control their anger, who continually lie or cheat, for example, are not God’s children (10) and have never known Jesus (6). However, when we struggle to stop doing what we know to be wrong, even though we seem to have to keep doing it, if we confess and ask for God’s help every time we fail, he will not fail us (1,2). We can be led astray, but must only do what is righteous (7). The world constructed by men, which we read about yesterday, can seem fun and look quite harmless at first. “Everyone does it” may be true, but not righteous. It takes a lot of courage to go against the flow. But God is always there to help us.
Apply
What “right thing” does it take courage to do? If there’s a sin you struggle with, ask God for help.
Closing prayer
Thank God that you are his child, and ask him to help you when you find it difficult to be different.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.