Day 254 – John: Character sketch of John (Jesus’ disciple)

“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you, rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment – to love one another – is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.” 1 John 2:7-8 NLT

Being loved is the most powerful motivation in the world! Our ability to love is often shaped by our experience of love. We usually love others as we have been loved.

Some of the greatest statements about God’s loving nature were written by a man who experienced God’s love in a unique way. Jesus’ disciple John expressed his relationship with the Son of God by calling himself “the disciple Jesus loved”. Although Jesus’ love is clearly communicated in all the Gospels, John uses it as the central theme, because his own experience of Jesus’ love was so strong and personal, John was sensitive to the words and actions of Jesus that illustrated how the one who is love, loved others first. Through John’s Gospel and letters, we see the great God of love, while the thunder of God’s justice bursts from the pages of Revelation.

Jesus confronts each of us as he confronted John. We cannot know the depth of Jesus’ love unless we are willing to face the fact that He knows us completely and loves us completely.

Strengths and accomplishments

John was a disciple of John the Baptist and understood that when Jesus was pointed out as the Messiah, He was who He said. He was the author of 5 New Testament books: the Gospel of John, 1,2, and 3 John, and Revelation.

Prayer: Father, thank You that through the writings of John, we learn so much about Your love and that we are loved for who You created us to be. Teach us Your love through the eyes of John, and to have a heart of love for others. Amen.