Walking in the light...

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1: 6-7

We have been doing an inductive Bible study on the book of 1 John and this verse really spoke to me. The first thing that I got out of it was that walking in darkness keeps me from having fellowship with others around me, which explains why when I am having sin issues I struggle with getting along with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The other thing that I realized was I think that I have always thought that when I have been walking in the darkness that I have to get all cleaned up before I can walk in the light…but that’s not really true. This verse talks about how first we have to get in the light and then God cleans us. Isn’t that cool that God accepts us when we are still all dirtied up, and how in order to see out sins we have to step out into the light?

The day that I read this verse it exactly matched my life. I was going through some sin issues and wondering why all the people around me were so hard to get along with…that’s when God pulled me into the light…It wasn’t the people around me at all, it was me! I was walking in the darkness so I was blind to my own attitude and sin…but that’s where God also showed me the beauty of His grace, He accepted me back in the light before I had gotten everything right, before I was cleaned….Once that cleaning took place my fellowship with everyone around me was immediately restored…I couldn’t get over how easy everyone around me was to love. It hadn’t been them, it had been me all along!

I guess I’d never figured out how much my sin affects fellowship and unity, it just made me hate sin and fall in love with God’s awesome grace all the more! God is good and He cleverly reminds me of that so often!