Children of God

An interesting comment was made to me the other day. One that I pondered about for a while and even turned into my lesson for the Wednesday night service. The comment was "I don't know why people treat others the way they do when we are all children of God" (emphasis mine) I thought about that and something about that statement didn't sit right with me. So I went to the one place I know where I can find all the answers, and there it was. 1 John 3:10 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" (NIV)
To fully appreciate the context of this begin at 1 John 2:28 and read through 1 John 3:10. It declares who the children of God are and gives a great definition of sin. v4 "sin is lawlessness" (NIV)

Verse 10 gives a separation between God's children and the devils children. The first separation is anyone who does not do what is right. Doing what is right is not based on mans philosophy of what is right, but on Gods unbreakable absolute truths. If God said it's wrong then it's wrong. If you go against Gods laws then you're not doing what is right. You may think you're living a goodly righteous life, but so did the pharisees. Jesus looked at the righteous pharisees and said, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44, NIV) Look to God and do what is right in the eyes of God.
The second separation is "anyone who does not love his brother". He is not referring to a physical family member, but a spiritual family member. It does not say "love those only in your church" or "love those only in your denomination". Love your brother. When someone accepts Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer they join the family. They become your brother. You must love your brother. (I don't want to sound like a sexist pig or anything, but anytime brother is mentioned it is in reference to both genders brother and sister) If you do not love your brother you are not a child of God. If you slander, mistreat, badmouth, etc other christians you are not loving them.
Within this text there is one warning to believers. That is v 7 "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous." Do not let anyone lead you astray. If you have questions, doubts, misunderstandings, go to the Bible. Read it, study it, meditate on it. Ask God for guidance and search for the truth. If someone (myself included) misteaches something call them on it. Show them in the bible where they are wrong. If they are truly a Godly person, they will correct themselves. Also, afford others the same opportunity, if you are wrong, please accept the correction and fix it.
Are we all children of God?

Have a blessed day
Daniel