A well-known author from England in the 1700s named Samuel Johnson once wrote, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” There’s certainly some wisdom in that statement. If you and I just did everything we already know to do, we’d be just fine.

Apostle John takes a similar approach in 1 John 2 when he says to his audience, which by extension includes you and me, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.” I take this to mean that what John is communicating in this letter isn’t something new. They already know it. They’ve already been instructed in it. They’ve already received it. But like a typical human being, they needed to be reminded of it. You and I need to be reminded of it.

He’s not writing these things because he’s trying to get us saved. He’s writing these things because we are saved. And since we are saved, these are the things we should be doing.

Beloved, if you have been forgiven, it was for the sake of God’s name. It was for the purpose of God’s glory. And as a result, our lives should glorify Him and honor Him and magnify Him.

We don’t have to be told something new in order to do that. Just do what you’ve already been told to do, and God will be greatly glorified.

Change begins in you!