Live to Love Scripture Encouragement John 17.6

John 17:6 "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” In vs. 4 we read that Jesus had accomplished the work God gave Him to do. Now we see how He glorified the Father. He manifested His name, which is another way of saying He manifested the work of God. What was that name or work that He manifested? It was love. He loved His disciples with the Father’s love and thus gave Him a name to define Him. That name is love. John, wrote of it in 1 John 4:7-11. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Jesus manifested the love of God. Love defines Him like a name defines a person. John, who recorded Jesus’ prayer here in John 17, was saying this. If we are His, His name of love should define us. That’s why we should live to love with Jesus. We are manifesting His name in the world. We lay down our lives for His own as He did. God’s love is the sustained direction of the will toward the highest good of another, no matter what the cost. And their highest good is to glorify God in Christ and enjoy Him forever. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com