Devo: 1 John 1:5-7: Live in the Light

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Table Of Contents

Introduction
1 John 1:5–7.
God is Light
Darkness
Practice the Truth
The Part Often Skipped
What Now?

Introduction

I do not know if any of you are like me, but when I make a mistake, I tend to make excuses and defend myself. Just the other day, my wife asked me to do the dishes and I forgot as I was watching the Miami football game. When she confronted me about it, I made tons of excuses and tried to justify myself. Instead of owning up to my mistake, I made excuses. I made excuses that I was busy and that she cannot expect me to remember things when I am preoccupied with something else. Especially when football is on! But this is not the way of Christ. Let’s read a few simple verses on what God is like and how to handle these situations.

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1 John 1:5–7.

⁵This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. ⁷But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

God is Light

Notice a few things: God is light. What does this even mean? Light is a common metaphor throughout the Bible. Light is associated with being blameless and pure (Phil 2:15. Righteousness is symbolized with light through the morning sun in Proverbs. Light being associated with pure and holy is important, as Christians are called to be holy. Think about what light does in our world. Light exposes things and helps us to see clearly. Light helps us to avoid dangers. Light also helps bring life. These are all things that God does as he exposes sin, protects us from danger, and brings life.

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Darkness

Notice that God is light, so if you are living in darkness, then you are not practicing the truth, and you have no fellowship with God. Darkness is often associated in the Bible with evil, wickedness, and sin. Which makes sense that a person cannot be a follower of God and live in darkness. Where light exists, darkness does not.

Practice the Truth

As this verse says, we must practice the truth and live in the light. We should be living as God calls us to. We should be bringing light to others as we share the gospel, expose injustice, bring life to others, and help people to see clearly. Practicing requires intentional pursuit and improvement as Christians are on a journey, putting on Christ. Best part, if you live in the light, God cleanses you from ALL sin. Not some, but ALL.

The Part Often Skipped

One part people often skip over. If you live in darkness, you do not have fellowship with one another. Living in darkness will destroy your friendships. If friendships are built on lying, inappropriate jokes, making fun of others, etc., then those relationships will fail. Because if someone makes fun of others behind their back, what happens when you are gone? They will make fun of you. Darkness hides things and if you hide yourself from others, then they do not truly know you.