Come and study the Holy Scriptures with us as Father Stephen DeYoung teaches verse by verse on the podcast, The Whole Council of God.

Father Stephen holds a PhD in biblical studies, and it's an Orthodox priest serving at Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Chapter 2, verse 1,

My little children,

these things I write to you

so that you may not sin.

We'll pause there.

It's the end of a sentence. He uses short sentences, too,

which is relief after St. Peter and St. Paul sometimes.

So as he refers to, and this is common for St. John, but we find similar wording we saw

with St. Paul in certain places, referring to the people in the community that he oversees

as his children. And we've seen all through the New Testament this family language that gets

used in the church. So if you're an authority in the church, you're not a lord, right? You're not a lord right you're not the uh despite it being a transliteration you're not a despot

you're not um a tyrant right uh as as christ said you know the rulers of the gentiles lorded

over them so it shall not be with you but you see this family language of a parent and a child, right, of brothers and sisters,

right, being used over and over and over again, these family structures, these more intimate

structures.

And that's the language he uses.

My little children is actually a good, the word that's used there refers to, like, little kids.

It's not a word you use for like your adult sons and daughters.

It's talking about my little kids.

So he says, these things I write, so that you may not sin.

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