Daniel 3-4 1 John 5

“This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12 NCV)

John drew a line down the center of civilization: on one side stand all who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, on the other side stand all who don’t believe in Jesus as the Son of God. Those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God have eternal life through Him; those who don’t have no hope of eternal life. Those who believe, live by God’s commands; those who don’t, live by conforming to the rules of the world. Those who believe God have overcome the world; those who don’t believe God fit in with the world. John recognizes that we have a clash of world views and believes that those who follow Christ will be the people who prevail.

There’s an interesting truth when we understand the clash of world views: when we promote our world view, we’ll be in conflict with those of the other world view and, when they promote their world view, they’ll be in conflict with our world view. I know that I’ve offended people by not validating their lifestyle or beliefs that are completely in line with their world view, but, their lifestyle and beliefs are an offense to my understanding of God’s commands. Part of my responsibility as a follower of Christ is to show people the love and grace of God so that they can experience what life could be like if they would follow Him. I show that love and grace by promoting God’s ways in all I say and do. When people of a different world view, promote their view, I listen respectfully. I respect the person, but don’t necessarily accept their understanding of the world has valid. I know some wonderful people who don’t follow Jesus. I respect them by showing and telling them about the love of God as found in Jesus even when they reject Him. I’ve found it interesting that many people who reject Jesus still come to me for help when needed. My ultimate goal in life is eternal life with God. I pray and hope for that same outcome for all people I know. We may disagree now, but my prayer is that my life and commitment to Christ will spill over so that you also can share the joy of that relationship with God.

Lord, not everyone thinks like me. That’s OK. I pray that first of all, I will think like You. Then I pray that I will live like You would. Then I pray that my words and actions would draw people who don’t believe towards Your amazing love and grace.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.