1 John 2:12-13 - Our Spiritual Journey

Today, Wednesday July 14 Our Spiritual Journey 1 John 2:12-13 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.  I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. Have you noticed the number of times in this letter that John makes the statement, “I am writing to you…”, or “these things I have written to you…”? I think I counted that he used this phrase at least thirteen times. He begins his letter by telling us that he is writing it so they we might experience fullness of joy (1:4)! He concludes the book saying that he wrote “these things that we may know that we have eternal life” (5:13). Now, what is interesting, at least to me, is that here in chapter 2, John uses this statement at least eleven times! Over and over he repeats, “I am writing to you…”. It is obvious that he is really trying to make a major point in this chapter. His overall theme of the letter seems to be that when we know that we have eternal life, (because we are walking in the light, because we are living in obedience to the Word of God, and it is being evidenced in our lives by our love for others), we will experience a completeness and fullness of joy in our everyday lives. So, what is John’s point in repeating the phrase “I am writing to you…” in this chapter? It appears that he is warning us that we have an enemy that will be opposing us every step of the way. And that enemy is the “world” that we need to know how to overcome. Because if we don’t overcome it, it will overcome us! We also need to notice that in these verses (2:12-13) that he is addressing every level of spiritual maturity. First he writes to “little children”. This is referring to those brand new believers who just entered the Christian life. They have just recently begin a new journey with a new life. They have become a “new creation in Christ with the old passing away” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He writes to “fathers”. These are those believers who have grown into spiritual maturity and are now “reproducing”, leading and bringing others to faith and growth in Christ. He writes to “young men” who are in the process of growing in their faith as they struggle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Then John addresses “children”. These might be those who have been believers for some time but have stopped growing in their Christian faith. They have become stagnant and you could even wonder if they have ever been saved by the way they are living. I’m afraid the church is full of “children”who have never ever really grown up. Today, if you were asked, where are you in these four levels of spiritual maturity? How would John be addressing you personally? It’s my prayer that these chats and this study will assist you in your spiritual journey to bring you to the place of full assurance of your salvation and enable you to live the life that is real, complete and full of joy! God bless!