The Beloved: A Pattern Life
“We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.” 1 John 2:3
My mother-in-law really enjoys cross-stitching. It’s something she does in her spare time for relaxation, creativity, and showing her love to others. Every time someone in her life gets married, has a baby, or achieves a great accomplishment, she cross-stitches something special for them.
A beautiful cross-stitch masterpiece from Sharon
Sharon (my mother-in-law) follows a detailed pattern for every stitch, color, and detail in her thread art. By following the pattern step by step, she creates a masterpiece.
Just as Sharon follows a pattern to create her cross stitches, John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, provides us a pattern for walking with Jesus. Let’s continue our series on the beloved disciple by examining the way we can follow Jesus and become more like him.
Step 1: turn away from our old lives of sin.
The Beloved Disciple wrote in 1 John 2:1, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.” The first step in walking with Jesus is rejecting our old lives of sin.
Anytime we make anyone or anything more important than God, we allow that thing to separate us from a loving relationship with God. By turning away from this kind of lifestyle (aka sin), we allow ourselves to experience God’s forgiveness and goodness in our lives. This leads to step two.
Step 2: accept Jesus forgiveness, even when we still struggle with sin.
John knew that no matter how hard we try, we still sin. We still make other people and things more important than God. Which is why he continued in 1 John 2:1 by saying, “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins…”
When we sin, we shouldn’t lose hope, because Jesus advocates for us. This means he supports us and represents us before God. Because he died on the cross, taking the punishment of our sins, when we do sin, we are not condemned by God. Instead, we receive forgiveness and the ability continue in a loving relationship with God. This leads us to step three in John’s pattern.
Step 3: live a new life patterned after Jesus’.
1 John 2:6 says, “Whoever claims to live in [God] must live as Jesus did.” Instead of living in sin, we should live as Jesus did.
When we receive Jesus’ forgiveness, he gives us his Holy Spirit (whom John described as our advocate in John 15:26), who helps us follow Jesus pattern for a beautiful love-filled life. The stronger our relationship with Jesus grows or the closer we follow him in each day and every situation, the more he helps us turn away from sin and experience an abundant life.
One of the main ways we can pattern our lives after Jesus is to show love to others (1 John 2:7-11), but we will explore that next week.
Colorful threads that will one day be stitched into something beautiful.
I wonder, are you following Jesus’ pattern for life? He wants to take the messiness of life and turn it into a beautiful masterpiece. Will you let him do that for you? We’d love to connect with you and walk with you on your journey with Jesus.
