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Children typically take their looks from their parents. That’s because chromosomes that determine looks are passed from parents to children. Just as a child inherits certain physical features from parents, on another level, a person who is born into the family of God begins to take on traits of their Heavenly Father. That is the point John the Apostle made describing the identity of those in a relationship with God through Christ. In 1 John 3, he tells us to notice of how much God loves us—so much that He calls us His own children. John then says, “All who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.” He 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 the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.” Elsewhere John explains that even believers sometimes sin, but we do not make a habit of sinning or justify our misdeeds. We confess our sins and God forgives us. John says those who keep sinning, especially violating God’s command to love one another, show they are really are not in the family of God.
