Stranger or Family?

Caleb: In seventh grade I switched schools mid-year, and everybody already had a lunch table. That's how God feels to me. Does he see me?

Hannah: Oh, Caleb. I'm glad you said that out loud. There's a line in 1 John 3 about the love the Father has given us. Here's how it begins.

Scripture: See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.

Caleb: That's lovely. But it sounds meant for people who've got their lives together. I haven't exactly been close to him.

Hannah: I get why you'd think that. But notice the word given. The verse says the Father has given us this love. It's a gift.

Caleb: Then why does it still feel so lonely? Like I'm standing outside the window, watching everyone else eat together.

Hannah: The rest of that verse says the world doesn't know us because it didn't know him. One way to read that is that being unrecognized by the world doesn't mean you're not his.

Caleb: Okay. So what comes next in the passage? What does it say?

Hannah: It calls them beloved, and says there's more still to come. Then it says, a few verses on, that he was revealed to take away our sins, Caleb.

Caleb: That's hard to believe about someone like me.

Hannah: I know. The passage says now we are children of God.

Hannah: Carry this today: 1 John 3 describes a love the Father has given us, and a family name that comes with it. Maybe just say, God, I want to know you. Where do you still stand at the edge, waiting to be waved in? Follow us here for more conversations like this.