March 1: John 21:17 - The Question That Searches us: "Do You Love Me?" (Today's Reflection from My Utmost For His Highest)

A forest path opens toward a warm beam of light shining through the trees, a quiet image of truth breaking into shadow.

Bible Verse

John 21:17

"Do you love Me?"

Reflection

There are questions that skim the surface of our lives, and there are questions that cut straight through us. This one from Jesus does not stay at the level of emotion or intention. It goes deeper—past our words, past our promises, past our self‑confidence—into the place where truth lives.

Peter once answered boldly, certain of his devotion, certain of his strength, certain he would never fail. But when Jesus asks him after the resurrection, the question lands differently. It hurts. It exposes. It reveals the distance between the love Peter felt and the love Jesus was calling forth from his spirit.

Chambers reminds us that this hurt is not punishment. It is awakening.

Sin dulls us. Self‑assurance blinds us. But the Word of God pierces—cleanly, lovingly, unavoidably—until every deception falls away. This is why the question feels like pain: it reaches the places we would rather not see.

“Do you love Me?”
Not, Do you admire Me?
Not, Do you feel close to Me?
Not, Do you intend to follow Me?

But—Do you love Me?
Love that confesses Him not only with words but with the quiet shape of a life.
Love that surrenders its self‑trust.
Love that lets Him touch the hidden corners where our will still resists Him.

The moment the question hurts is the moment truth begins to dawn. Jesus never wounds to shame us. He wounds to heal. He pierces to reveal. He asks to draw us into a love that is deeper than emotion and stronger than resolve—a love born in the spirit, where no deception can remain.

This is the question that remakes us.

Breath Prayer

Inhale: Search me, Lord.
Exhale: Make my love true.

Selah

~ Quil

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