Through The Bible in a Year - August 5, 2026

“I [am] in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me… I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” - John 17:23, 26

Jesus’s great prayer ends with a declaration of purpose. It is that the love with which the Father has loved the Son would be in His disciples. Theirs is not merely to be a love they think about or talk about wistfully, but a love that is actually in them. Indwelling. Active. Visible.

Why is this love Christ’s purpose? He declares that, too: “So that the world may know that You [Father] sent Me, and loved them even as You loved Me.”

The world’s knowledge of Jesus depends, in part, on what they see in His people. We will not be perfect representatives, of course. Jesus knows we sometimes limp in our love. But a community that limps together and admits its need for grace can still show Jesus. A community that hugs across differences that would ordinarily keep people apart will still show Jesus.

This is how the world comes to know that the Father sent the Son and loves the world as He loves the Son. The world comes to know the ministry of Jesus through the imperfect, forgiven, grace-dependent disciples who nonetheless bear the mark of the One who indwells them.

So, what are the lessons we are to learn from Christ’s prayer for our unity in the church?

Limp well: admit your need for grace. Honestly pray, “Father, you call me to love others to reflect your heart. But, I often fail. So, I need Your grace to forgive me and get me going again.”

Hug well: love past your differences and your hurts. Pray, “I need you, Lord, to help me understand and live out this grace, to forgive and love beyond my own hurt, or embarrassment, or uncaring attitudes.”

Respond: You are a tabernacle of the Living God. If you have named Jesus as your Savior—not because of your perfection but because of your knowledge of your need, then Christ dwells in you as does the glory of the Father. But this is not only true of you; it is true of everyone else in the church who has trusted in Jesus—even the ones who are difficult for you to love.

So, this week, ask God to make you conscious of the glory that you and all other genuine believers carry. You are not just natural beings going through the habits of an ordinary week. You are receptacles of the supernatural glory of God that existed before the foundation of the world. God has made your mortal body a spiritual temple to display his glory and his goodness.

Who in your life needs to see that glory? Who in your life needs to see his goodness? Who in your life might be watching and waiting to say, “I need your Jesus”?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, let the love with which You loved Your Son and He loved You be in me. Make this love more than a religious performance or a pretend attitude. Please work in me a genuine indwelling reality of Your grace. Let people around me see something they can’t explain: a person whose love limps honestly and with a generosity of spirit. Make known to the world through my imperfect life that You sent the Son who loves the world as He loves You. Make me desire to be Your tabernacle and make me able. Fill me with Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.