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The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved

December 14, 2009

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God. 1 John 3:1a

You’ll become frustrated trying to walk in love if you don’t understand that we love because God first loved us. We can only truly walk in love as it flows out of our understanding of God’s love for us.

The apostle John had a profound understanding of God’s love. Four times John reiterated his awareness of God’s love by calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7). I used to think John was rubbing it in to Peter and the other disciples that he was the favorite. But now I realize the contrast between those two disciples at that point in their journeys: Peter was the disciple who tried to love Jesus, but John was the disciple who received the love from God.

It’s not about your loving God more—it starts at square one: God’s love for you. Let it resonate in your spirit that you are the disciple whom God loves, and out of that value, you can start valuing your relationship with God and valuing the people around you.

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:9-11

God is calling us to revolutionize our generation with this radical approach called love that emanates from our relationship with God. We are at our best when this translates into practical action. How are we going to win the world? Not by our amazing sophistication, but by our love.

It’s good to be loved,
Pastor Jeff

Copyright © 2009 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.