Becoming a child of God

Everyone comes from a family. Whatever our own background, we know family matters. At its best, it’s where we’re loved, accepted and cherished, a place where we belong. All of us need and long for that kind of family, whether or not ours ever was.

Maybe that longing is part of what’s drawn you to Jesus. Something in the way he treated people, or something he said, or something you’ve seen in a friend who follows him. And now you’re wondering what it would mean to say yes.

The Gospel of John answers that question with a picture of family: “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”*

At its heart, becoming a Christian means becoming a child of God. When you trust Jesus, who came to bring us back to God, God welcomes you into his family. The invitation is for all. No test to pass, no cleaning yourself up first. A child belongs simply because they’re a child of that home.

Your place in the family rests on the Father’s love, so on your worst day you’re still his.

Like any good parent, he guides you and sometimes corrects you, because he’s committed to who you’re becoming, and he will never send you away.

Ideally, children get to know their parents, and being God’s child opens up that kind of knowing. The God who made the stars becomes someone you can know by name, and who already knows you by yours.

You get to know him the way any child does, by spending time together. You talk with him honestly in prayer, bringing your worry, joy, questions or mess at any time. You read the stories of Jesus, who shows us what God the Father is like.

Over time, children start to resemble their parents. God’s children start to grow kinder, more patient, more honest, and more at peace. Along the way you’ll find more brothers and sisters learning to know the same Father.

Saying yes can be as simple as telling God, in your own words, that you want to follow Jesus. The door is open. No one will push you through it, and the Father is glad to welcome you home.

* John 1:12