Identifying Ourselves Rightly

John referred to himself on several occasions as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. He was the only one who referred to himself in that way. His identity was wrapped up in being loved by Jesus.

Like John, our identity should rest in the fact that we are loved by the Lord with an unconditional love. As a matter of fact, in the fifteenth chapter of the gospel according to John (the disciple whom Jesus loved), we read “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This is exactly what Jesus did – He laid down His life for us! This means that we are loved with the greatest love possible. A perfect, irrevocable, love! So this was John’s self-image – wrapped up in Christ’s perspective…His perspective about him.

Our self-image can develop from a variety of sources: family, life circumstances, teaching, persons of influence, education, mental capacity, self-assessment, societal influence, etc. We may choose to primarily identify ourselves with our role as father, husband, employee, student, or a myriad of other roles. And in doing so, we may positively or negatively assess how well we are carrying out that role or how much people are pleased with us. And that may be the main source of our self-image.

But John drew his self-image from the most perfect of sources: the sovereign God. He condensed his value to simply being the one who was loved by the Savior. Part of the beauty of this choice is that it gives John a perfectly accurate self-image. For every believer, in fact, this is a perfectly accurate self-image.

So, with this self-image, how would that inform our actions, thoughts and world perspective? How would that inform the way we love others? How would that inform our behavior? I would submit that the answer to these questions is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Dear one, let the truth that you are loved by the God of the universe be your guide. Let that truth permeate your being so that this is your view of yourself and the love of the Father may be displayed in all of your actions.

One more word spoken by Christ and recorded by the disciple whom He loved:

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35)