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.

It’s very tempting to read this verse and think ‘Wow, I’m not sinning anymore because I’ve been born again when the reality is that we’re still the same feeble people we’ve always been. Except that the point Joh was making in this letter is that if we are truly born again we are spiritually renewed and as such a great deal will change within us. Our habits change, our thought patterns change and our behaviour will change too. As we spend more and more time in God’s presence we’ll see the difference in ourselves.

I once dropped a pair of trousers into a bath that had some bleach in it. As soon as I realised the mistake I lifted them out again. But as they dried I could see the places where the colour had been bleached away although a good part of them was still the original shade of blue. Had I left them there long enough the colour would have been washed out almost completely. This is the same concept. The longer we spend soaked in God’s goodness the more we become like Him – not wanting to sin, not being tempted to do the things that He knows are unhealthy for us. He literally washes all the rubbish out of us.

In this life we are unlikely to be completely free from sin but our propensity to keep n doing the wrong things will be reduced day upon day.

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Application:

Think abut your life now and your life before you first met Christ. Are they the same? Do you still do the same things you did before? Or can you see the changes life a ‘Before’ and ‘After’ picture?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus I pray that day by day you would cleanse me of all that is unhealthy or unholy. Wash away my sin and make me more and more like You. Amen.