John spoke with gentleness to his readers. In a world filled with so much grief, evil, and hardship, it is indeed good to feel God’s tenderness to us. Think of a time someone who cared deeply about you put his/her arm around your shoulder and communicated, “Dear one, it’s going to be okay.” That’s what the Lord is assuring us in John’s first letter.

Even as Jesus was fully aware that His disciples were all about to abandon Him, He offered them words of comfort: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The next day He was nailed to a cross and suffered the greatest injustice of all time— so that He could overcome death for us and win us back from the evil one who reigns in this world.

We can say along with today’s prisoner-contributor, “I know that I am a child of God, and God through His Holy Spirit abides in my heart. That is how I overcome the world.”

“Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:5).