You Are the One
You’ve been told that Jesus loves you. Maybe you have memorized John 3:16, “God so loved the world…” but do you really KNOW God loves you? Have you felt it? Have you internalized it? Does it shape your life? The disciple John knew that Jesus loved him in his head; he experienced Jesus’ love for him in his heart and it changed his life. It changed how he saw himself.
I had often heard that John was referred to as the beloved disciple. Sometimes the idea kind of bugged me. Why was he singled out as “the one Jesus loved?” What made him special compared to the other disciples? When I looked into it, I was surprised to discover that the phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (or “the one Jesus loved”) appears five times in the Bible, only in the book of John. It wasn’t Peter or Matthew saying (in a jealous sort of way) that John was the disciple Jesus loved; it was always John talking about himself.
Then it hit me. John wasn’t bragging or comparing himself to the other disciples. Being “the one Jesus loved” was his primary identity. When he talked about himself as he wrote the book of John, he could have said “I” or “me” or “one of 12″ or “the fisherman,” but he didn’t. The best way to describe himself was “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
I wondered, how would my life change if I started thinking about myself as “the one Jesus loved?” I define myself in so many ways – wife, mother, physiotherapist, writer. What if all of those definitions faded to the background and my primary identity in life became, “I am the one Jesus loves”? How would your life change if you began to see yourself as you really are – “the one Jesus loves”?
When Jesus loved John, John became a somebody. He had worth and importance. John’s description of himself shows us that he understood and knew with all his being that God loved him. When God created you, He loved you. When God, in His grace, sent Jesus to die on the cross, it was an expression of His love for you. Because of God’s love, you are a somebody; you have worth and importance. Hold on to the truth that YOU ARE THE ONE JESUS LOVES.
(Scriptures: John 13:23, John 19:26, John 20:2, John 21:7, John 21:20)
About the Author
This devotional was written by Suzanne Benner. Read more about Suzanne: http://www.talk.thelife.com/suzanne-benner/
Comment
Post your comments on the devotional blog: http://talk.thelife.com/
Related Reading
The Power of Words
http://www.womentodaymagazine.com/lifestories/claire.html
Copyright
This devotional is protected by copyright laws and may not be reprinted or posted to a site without permission from TruthMedia Internet Group. All readers are welcome to forward the devotional to a friend or link to it. If you would like to seek permission to reprint the devotional in full, please contact us:
http://www.truthmedia.com/contact/index.htm
That was beautiful and a great reminder of God’s love for us!
I was just thinking this today actually. Just spending time with my family the other day and receiving a beautiful e card from my cousin. I thought… Wow!God you really love me! I am so blessed to have all these amazing people in my life, who love me and my family.
God is good and let’s praise Him for all he has given us!
“I trust him because I know that I know that I know that he loves me.”
Thank you, Cindy.
I know I get caught up in the “love” thing and not grasping it as I see others do. You’re right, Leslie, we cannot fathom His great love and we rarely witness that kind of love in this world. That doesn’t mean it’s not real nonetheless.
This morning God blessed me with a truth I can grasp. In church we sang the hymn, “‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” I trust him with my life and that is very significant for me. I trust him because I know that I know that I know that he loves me. As the song says, he’s my savior and friend.
I still want to know his love in a personal way rather than being one among the masses He has saved. I continue to take joy in the fact that I trust Him. As the song says, “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!”
I suppose it is a daily willfulness to draw closer today to Jesus than I was yesterday. As I mentioned earlier, it is scary to think that someone would go so far as to give up their own life for such a one as myself…but the undeniable truth is …He Did! I think because as humans we cannot fathom that kind of love, we make it easier to grasp by massing ourselves into the faceless race of humans that walk this earth. In reality, Jesus does know our names…why he even knows such a trival thing as how many hairs are upon my head! ( I can’t even count the hairs in my own hair brush!) If he takes the time to know that – well, then it only goes that he knows so much more “personal” stuff and He loves me anyway! In this world we rarely, if ever, witness that kind of love….and our limited minds and hearts don’t know what to do with it when we do find it. Pray that Christ will let you experience the deepest sentiment of His love.
An interesting concept, the one whom Jesus loved. John caught something very important there — something that has elluded me though I walk with Christ. When I consider John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…” I’m thankful that I happen to be in the world and on the team he loves and so I get the benefits of his love. I haven’t caught the truth the disciple mastered and continue to wonder how I might. How did any of you come to grasp it?
I have always struggled with love. I remember the first time I began to grasp the concept of being “the one Jesus loves”. It will knock you to your knees in worship. It is easy to see oneself as part of the many whom Jesus sacrificed himself to save. I have been told that even if I were the only one that needed to be redeemed – that Jesus still would have came to face the cross. For me, that kind of love is unfathomable ….but desirable! When I begin to meditate upon the depth of a very personal Savior, I begin to see love in a different way. Godly love doesn’t care about the “good return” on an investment. Godly love can be scary, especially when I think that we, as the body of Christ, are called to emulate that kind of love in our families, neighborhoods, and many other places that touch our lives. This I know: Only through the healing and empowerment of the Holy Spirit can any human begin to grasp the full love of God. Praise God that He only shows of mere glimpses of his love. Like the anticipation that the scent of a turkey in the oven on thanksgiving day brings to the senses, I take great joy, and comfort, in knowing that the “feast” is yet to come!
I hear what you are saying Autumn. We’re not THE one Jesus loves or the ONE Jesus loves as in singular thought … yet I love the call to my heart to engage with Jesus in such a way that I am keenly aware of how He loves ME individually. As you said, “just little ol’ me”. It also makes me very aware of how Jesus calls on me to be filled with His Spirit and to be His hands and feet and lips in this cold world.
Though I am a part of the whole world that is loved by God, my individual relationship with Jesus is what makes all the difference. Your’re right Autumn… “what an awesome thought”!
I know the gist of what you are saying is to think of ourselves as one that Jesus loves. But I don’t want to think of it as “the one Jesus loves.” Jesus loves us all. I find it easier to think of it as “one of the many Jesus loves.” It sort of feels conceited to me to think singularly. But it is an awesome thought to think that I am loved by Jesus, me, one who has done nothing big in the world to make a difference, just little ol’ me. What an awesome thought.
Could John’s phrase “the one whom Jesus loved” have been an indication of John’s amazement that Jesus, the long awaited Messiah had chosen him, a simple fisherman to be His disciple?
I am often amazed that Jesus could love me, an ordinary wife and mother. I am amazed at how Jesus has chosen me to do ministry in His Kingdom. I am thorougly amazed when I realize that Amighty God is using me to do some amazing feat. I join with John in sharing his strong sense of amazement for I am ‘one whom Jesus loves.”
Think about it – you are too. Wow!