“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35
The pop group, The Black Eyed Peas, released one of their first songs back in 2003. The song, with its title posing a question, “Where is the Love?”, quickly became a chart topper. Part of the chorus stands out as it is actually a prayer…
“Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questioning
(Where’s the love).”
This valid question is still being asked by many throughout the world today. The good news is the Father actually has the answer, and that answer is found in you and me. Jesus, in John 13:35, says that, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” So, Jesus makes it clear that the world will see something in us, as His followers, that will show others where the love is. But what makes this all possible is the He Himself starts the love flow. John 13:1 tells us that, “Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.”
This verse is one of so many that can be found throughout the Gospels, and the rest of the New Testament, and lets us know, with all certainty, that Jesus and the Father are the true source of love, and that the Lord loves us more that words can articulate. This love that He has for us is so powerful that it, when accepted and received, can completely change one’s perspective of God, life, and even themselves. Such was the case with one of Jesus’ disciples named John.
As we read the very book that John wrote, we see that he actually got his identity from the truth that Jesus loved Him. As we see in verse 23, John would only refer to himself as, “The disciple whom Jesus loved.” As odd as that may seem to us, that was how John really saw it. As a result of receiving that kind of love from Jesus, the Lord was able, through John, to love those around him in the most profound ways.
Today, as you and I keep ourselves in the love that flows from Jesus, into us, and out to others, we will be the living answer to the world’s question, pointing them to the real love that can only be found in Him.