Do you know who wrote the gospel of John? John did—I looked it up.

Do you know that three times in the gospel of John, he refers to himself in the third person? Each time this is revealed as “the one Jesus loved.” It’s almost as if John is saying “Jesus loved me best,” or, “I’m His favorite.”

If anyone knew God’s love, it would be the disciples. John, being one of the twelve, lived with Jesus for three years. They did life together; they laughed, cried, ate, walked, and prayed together.

John was there for the miracles when Jesus healed, delivered, forgave, restored, and made more food out of less. John was there when Jesus was moved with compassion and poured Himself out to the lost, weak, blind, deaf, and lame. Whatever the need, John watched Jesus meet it.

John was also around when Jesus was whipped and beaten, spit upon and cursed. He was there when Jesus was spread out, nailed to, and then hung on a cross—Love in human form giving up his life so we could know Life.

And John was there after the resurrection when Jesus displayed his nail-scarred hands and feet. He witnessed Love ascend to heaven, and experienced Love again when it descended in the form of the Holy Spirit. If anyone knew what Love looked like, it was John.

And John, the guy who knew intimately what Love looked like, and talked like, and acted like, goes on to write about himself as “the one Jesus loved.”

As far as John was concerned, he was Jesus’ favorite. Jesus loved him best.

Somehow John’s relationship with Jesus nurtured the most profound revelation a person can possess. John knew God’s love as an intimate, one-of-a-kind love.

I believe that revelation is available to you and me.

To know I am “the one he loves” is my heart’s truest desire, and I would like to suggest that it’s yours as well.

So I am learning to believe that I’m His favorite. In fact, it’s become my life’s one true ambition—that I could say regarding myself, “I am the one He loves.” And as I keep choosing to believe Him, I have come to realize that it is the most important thing I will ever choose to believe. It’s a transformative truth that reveals the nature of God and empowers my new nature in Christ – not just as one dearly loved but as one prone to love as He does.

Though I have but the smallest sliver of understanding, in my heart of hearts, where I continue to know His love in greater measure, I am betting that I just might be His favorite; that He is especially fond of me, that He loves me best, that I am “the one he loves.” I’d also wager that if you ask Him, He will tell you the same thing: He loves you best too.

Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

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