1 John 3:1–10 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

When you become a follower of Jesus, when you put your faith in Him and believe that He is your Savior, you have the desire to live a life that shows your gratitude to God. It would be wonderful if we never sinned again, but that will not be achieved on this side of heaven. Christians would love to stop sinning completely, but unfortunately, we all continue to sin. That is why we are told to confess our sins and hear God’s promise of forgiveness for Jesus’ sake.

In the prayer Jesus taught us, we pray “And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Luther explained it this way in his Small Catechism.

What does this mean? We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.

“We daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.” We admit this is the reality of our lives. But sin is no longer our master. Jesus is. His grace gives us the forgiveness we don’t deserve, but which Jesus earned for us. Our desire is to serve Him, not to keep on sinning. And we cling to the truth that John wrote in the passage above:

But you know that he [Jesus] appeared so that he might take away our sins. … The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

May God help us to be more like Him in our living and forgiving.