1 John 2:1

NASB	NLT	VOICE
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;	1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.	1 You are my little children, so I am writing these things to help you avoid sin. If however, any believer does sin, we have a high-powered defense lawyer – Jesus the Anointed, the righteous – arguing on our behalf before the Father.

Attempt Righteousness Every Day

John’s intent in writing this is to encourage his audience to live lives that are holy. The focus is to strive for righteousness and avoid sin. John’s audience were going up against false teachings and lax morals, so the call to stick to God’s teaching and obey God’s commands was very important to the Christian movement. John also recognizes that none of us are perfect, and we will stumble into sin from time to time, hence why we need to remain focused on God’s way. When we mess up, we have an advocate to walk alongside us to plead to God for us. We find this advocacy work through his sacrifice and the ongoing need for forgiveness. 

Get Out of Your Head and into Jesus

It’s very easy to get caught up in our sinful behavior. When we step back and recognize what behaviors we’re in right now, we often feel like there’s no hope. We can feel like we’re too far gone and nothing can be done to change us. We’re ready to give up and stay stuck in that sinful life because we’ve tried to fix things and nothing ever worked before. The truth is – we can change in spite of our emotions. We can change, even when nothing helped before. We can change through the grace of Jesus. Jesus went to the cross and died for our sinful behavior. He broke the chains sin had on us and gave us the right to approach God boldly and confidently. As Moses did for the Israelites at the Golden calf, Jesus talks to God on our behalf – saying, “He’s not too far gone, he needs strength. She’s not bad, she needs wisdom.” The only thing that we need to instill in the battle is faith. Faith to recognize that God is on our side, God was victorious of sin, and that strength, wisdom, and courage resides inside of us. So, where will you place your faith? Your sin or your Savior?

Reflection Questions

1. What does it mean to you to live a holy life?
2. Have you struggled with perfectionism? Has that struggle affected your walk with Christ?
3. What is one sin that you are ready to overcome through Christ?

Call to Action

Sin is defined as a moral failing against God’s law. God’s law is about loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love each other as He loves us. Take this time today in prayer with God to see how you have fallen short of God’s law and how you can work towards being more godly.

Next slice of manna: Manna for the Mind #279