Why Love is the Real Test of Discipleship
The world won’t know we follow Jesus by our words — but by our love.
📖 Scripture:
“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” — John 13:35
📚 Bible Study:
Why Love Is the Real Test of Discipleship
If you ever want to know who truly follows Jesus, don’t look at their church attendance. Don’t look at their Bible knowledge. Don’t look at how well they speak Christian phrases or how often they post verses online.
Jesus didn’t say those things would reveal His followers. He said one thing — and only one thing — would make it unmistakable:
“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
Love. Not the kind that’s easy, convenient, or selective. Not the kind that feels good when people are treating us right. Not the kind that comes naturally when we agree with someone.
Real love. The kind that costs something. The kind that reflects Him.
Love is the test because love is the difference.
Anyone can love the lovable. Anyone can be kind when they’re in a good mood. Anyone can be patient when everything is going their way.
But loving people when it’s hard?
Loving people when they’ve hurt you?
Loving people who think differently, vote differently, live differently?
Loving the people you’d rather avoid than embrace?
That’s what separates disciples from fans. Followers from fakers. Christians from Christ-like.
Because that’s what separates us from the world.
Love reveals who your Teacher is.
Think about it. You become like the people you spend time with. Your speech starts to sound like theirs. Your habits begin to resemble theirs. Your reactions reflect theirs.
So when we spend time with Jesus, our lives should begin to look like Him.
Jesus loved:
the outcasts
the difficult
the broken
the ones who betrayed Him
the ones who denied Him
the ones society had given up on
the ones everyone else judged
If our love doesn’t stretch beyond comfort, we’re not reflecting Him — we’re reflecting ourselves.
Love is also the real test because it is impossible without God.
Real love — Christ-like love — can’t be manufactured. You can’t fake it long-term. You can’t perform your way into it. You can’t force your heart into places it hasn’t been transformed to go.
That’s why Jesus made love the test. Because the only way we can truly love like Him… is to know Him. Walk with Him. Let Him remake our hearts.
Real love is evidence of real transformation.
“We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
If the love isn’t there, the transformation isn’t either. Not yet. Not fully. Not deeply.
But it can be. And that’s the hope.
Love is the test because without it, nothing else matters.
Paul said it loud and clear:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)
In other words, I can be impressive — gifted, talented, wise, admired — and still be empty. Still be spiritually bankrupt. Still be nothing.
Love is what makes the rest of our faith mean something.
So here’s the question we have to ask ourselves:
Does my love prove I follow Jesus?**
Do I love when I’m offended?
Do I love when I’m overlooked?
Do I love when I’m annoyed?
Do I love when I’m tired?
Do I love when someone is different than me?
Do I love the people who have nothing to offer me?
Do I love the people who can’t give me anything back?
Because this is the test. This is the mark. This is the proof.
Love is the evidence of discipleship.
Love is the mirror of our Master.
Love is the sermon that never stops preaching.
🪞 Reflection:
Think about the last 24 hours — not the last month or last year.
Where did your love look like Jesus?
Where did it look like you?
Love is not measured in big dramatic moments.
It’s revealed in the tiny ones — the interruptions, the inconveniences, the disagreements, the disappointments.
Where your love stops… that’s where God wants to grow you.
💭 A Question for You:
Who is the one person God is asking you to love better today —
not because they deserve it, but because He commanded it?
🙏 Prayer:
Lord, reshape my heart until my love looks like Yours.
Teach me to love when it’s hard, when it costs me, and when no one sees but You.
Make my life a reflection of my Savior —
not in words, but in the way I treat people.
Grow me into a disciple whose love reveals Your presence.
Amen.
✅ Practical Step:
Before the day ends, show intentional love to one specific person who is difficult for you.
Send the text.
Offer the apology.
Choose patience.
Extend grace.
Do the one thing your flesh resists.
Let your love preach louder than your words.
📨 Invite a Friend:
Know someone who needs this reminder?
Forward this email and let them be encouraged too.
