Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. 1 John 3:9-10

 

Jessica learned at a very young age, to do the right thing, or else. As a preschooler, Jessica’s pastor father interrupted his sermon one Sunday, snatched her from where she was noisily sitting on the front row with her mother, and carried her out of the church. Once he’d spanked her for her non-ok-in-church behavior, he carried her back in, deposited her next to her mother and finished his sermon!

 

Jessica chose to follow Jesus as she grew up, but she still struggled to be perfect. Eventually, she felt like giving up on her impossible to do, “Christian life.” Finally, Jessica came to understand something important about sin and pleasing God.

 

The Bible explains that all of us sin (Romans 3:23) but when a person surrenders to Christ’s control, we die to the bondage of habitual lives of sin. It says, “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them” (2 Corinthians 5:14b-15) When a follower of Jesus sins, God graciously invites us to confess our sin, promises to forgive us and clean us up (1 John 1:9). A do-over is always offered.

 

The Bible explains, “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil…” (1 John 3:9-10).

 

There’s no perfection until heaven. God keeps washing His kids clean but if your life is characterized by habitual sin, have you ever actually gotten in the tub?