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“One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved...” John 13:23

“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved…” John 19:26

“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved…” John 21:7

“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved…” John 21:20

You can separate any of my three children on any given day and would be told that it is their belief that they are my favorite. They look upon the other two with confidence that my love for them is a little bit greater than my love for their siblings. We even laugh about this as I sit in silence while their banter continues.

John, the author of the Book of John, on four different occasions both describes and defines himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ What a wonderful way to define ourselves when we describe who we are in our life. I remember when Beth was in the Hospice House she had a visitor from the clergy who described Beth as one of God’s favorite's. Now, I was brought up to believe that we are all equal children in the loving eyes of our Father so this claim really rubbed me the wrong way. Could it be that my Heavenly Father had favorites, after all the Jews were His chosen people. Could it be that no matter how much I loved Him, there would always be those whom He loved more?

I decided to see what Scripture said about this claim and was relieved and blessed by the truth. Acts 10:34 states, ‘Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’ Rom. 2:11 states, ‘For God does not show favoritism.’ Eph. 6:9 states, ‘…since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.’ Col. 3:25 states, ‘Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.’ The flip side being ‘and anyone who does right will be repaid for his ‘right’, and there is no favoritism.’

What a powerful God of love that through the Holy Spirit we feel like we just may be His favorite! The more deeply we encounter Him the more love we possess. Instead of our description of ourselves including ‘me, myself and I,’ I am proud and honored to describe the author of this post as ‘the woman who Jesus loves.’

During your conversation today replace the word ‘me’ with ‘the one whom Jesus loves and adores.’