Listen to today’s devo!

If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. (1 John 1:6)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 1:6

Early in my ministry, I encountered a woman who had lived through some terrible life experiences. Many years earlier she had been the victim of horrific abuse and betrayal. After hearing her story, I asked if she had come to the point of forgiving the person who had wounded her so badly. She professed adamantly and in no uncertain terms that she had forgiven the person.

Yet over the next few months, it became obvious there was a disconnect between what she had said about forgiveness and what was manifested in her life. For the first time, I learned there is a difference between what some people profess and what they actually possess.

John reminds us, “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” People are capable of proclaiming something but not living up to what they declare. It is one thing to claim to be a disciple of Jesus, to proclaim to know and follow him and his light; yet if our lives are characterized by dark attitudes, behaviors, priorities, language, and reactions that are contrary to the light God has provided in his Word, our claim of following Jesus rings hollow and should be rectified immediately.

Recall your most recent declaration and ensure you possess what you profess.

Stephen Elliott serves as the national superintendent of The Wesleyan Church of Canada and program director of pastoral ministries and church planting degree programs at Kingswood University in New Brunswick. He and his wife, Helen, have three adult children.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.