Called His Children

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 46, Called His Children.

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." First John, chapter three, verse one.

Don't let that slide past you. John is not making a gentle observation here — he is issuing a command. "See." Stop. Actually look. The way you stop when someone grabs your arm and says, you need to see this. Because wonder at the Father's love is not a feeling that shows up on its own when life is good — it is a discipline. A deliberate choice to pause and behold what God has actually done.

And what has He done? He has given. Not loaned. Not rationed. Not held in reserve until you earned it. This love was lavished — and that word carries all the weight of something that overflows, that cannot be contained, that refuses to be metered out drop by drop. The Father does not give to you based on how the week went or whether you measured up. He lavishes. Without limit, without condition, without an expiration date.

And the result of that lavishing is this: we are called children of God. Not a lovely metaphor. Not an honorary title. Not a poetic way of speaking about something less. It is your actual standing before the Father — right now, this moment, as you hear these words. And so we are. Really. Truly.

Now here is something that can change the way you walk into your whole day: you are a child before you are useful. Before you produce anything. Before you solve anything. Before you get it right or get it wrong. Your identity is not assembled from what you will do today — it is the ground from which everything you do is meant to grow. Child first. Everything else flows from there.

But John knows this is hard to hold onto. He warns us plainly: the world will not recognize who you are. And the reason is simple — it did not recognize Him. So if you sometimes feel like a stranger here, like you don't quite fit, like something in you is out of place in this world — John is telling you that may be exactly the right sign. You belong to another home. And that is not failure. That is identity.

So today, before breakfast, before the first notification on your phone, before the first task on your list — find a mirror. Look at your own face. And say it out loud: "I am a child of God." Not as a self-help exercise. Not as an empty affirmation. As a declaration of a reality the Father Himself has placed over your life. And then walk into your day from that place. Not as someone who has to prove something. As someone who already knows who they are.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.