⁹ He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ¹⁰ He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

1 John 2:9-10 NKJV

I know that I have been bringing up the professed believer and the sincere believer a lot lately. The reason why I am doing this is because it is very important we know where we stand in our faith. There are many people who genuinely believe they are a child of God, but they are only His child in thought.

To be a child of God you must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Paul said that whatever a child of God does, whether by word or deed, it should be done in Christ name (Col. 3:17). The child of God must be sincere in faith. If we do otherwise, we become nothing but hypocrites like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.

One of the key places where fail today is the most important place— love. I am always talking about love because I know that I can do better in this area. Love determines whether or not we truly reside in the light of God. As John said, if we say we are a child of God, but we don’t love, how are we walking in His light? This should be something you give serious thought today.