4/3 Through the Bible in Devotions

John 13

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (v. 35)

Love is the essence of the Christian life. It is our motivation. Love births forgiveness; it prompts giving; it compels us to teach and preach the Gospel; All that we do, unto the glory of God, has its root in love. By these things, others can know that we are Christ’s disciples. In fact, our works are the only evidence we have for many people who we do not get to speak to, that we belong to the family of God. Love manifests itself through us, and when we fail in this area, we fail to be the testimony that we need to be, and blend in with the world and their self-seeking spirit.

This is one of six verses in the New Testament that specifically tells us what it is to be a disciple. Three of them are in Luke, and three in John. There are only six, but they serve as a sort of an “outline” for us so that we might attain to the special office of “disciple”. Lets take a look at them:

Lk. 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Lk. 14: 27 “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

Lk. 14: 33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

Then in John, we have:

Jn. 8: 31 “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”

Jn. 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Jn. 15: 8 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”