I Love Jesus: Staying in Love with Him
I love Jesus.
Love. A small and seemingly simple word. But it holds more power than we realize.
I’m not an expert on the subject of love.
Instead, I held misconceptions about love as a child and young woman. And hang-ups about love formed from emotionally expensive experiences.
You see, my father abandoned me for a time, and I never remember the phrase “I love you!” by either of my parents until later in life.
I was grown with my own children the first time my father uttered the words I love you. The conversation’s forever etched in my memory.
Still, as much as I wanted to hear my dad tell me he loved me, I needed to believe it. And I longed for the reassurance he meant it.
You know what? The same holds true today. My husband can never tell me or show me he loves me too many times.
Because a continual and intentional assurance of love takes any relationship to a higher and deeper level. Pure and whole-hearted love, in the most powerful form, is a show-and-tell affection.
Pure and whole-hearted love, in the most powerful form, is a show-and-tell affection. #reallove #jesusblogger Click To TweetI Love Jesus
Likewise, the words I love You, Jesus! rise in my heart and roll off my tongue more often these days. Why?
Maybe I’m tired of surface substitutes for real love. Perhaps I’ve grown weary of this: what God made true about love, people made fake. And I believe Christ is teaching me about an authentic and lasting love.
2012 marked a spiritual milestone in my life, written in my journal. I decided to fall head over heels in love with Jesus, loving Him more than anyone or anything.
Can we fall in love with Christ and stay in love with Him—pure and whole-hearted affection? Not only is this kind of love relationship possible, but it’s what the Lord intended all along.
How to experience this love relationship is found in the answers to these two questions.
I Love Jesus With All
(1.) What’s the greatest commandment?
This question posed to Christ: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV, emphasis mine).
Dictionary.com defines heart as “The center of total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion.”
Merriam-webster explains soul as “A person’s moral or emotional nature or sense of identity. The spiritual part of a human being.”
Google tells us the mind is “The element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought. A person’s mental processes, intellect.”
Therefore, every part of me—my whole being—loves Jesus. I love Him with my heart and emotions, through my spiritual identity, and in my mind and experiences. That’s the greatest commandment and the greatest love.
I Love Jesus Because He Loves Me
(2.) Where did love originate?
As I noted in my blog post last week, 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us” (ESV).
God created love and demonstrated love on Calvary’s cross through His Son—a show-and-tell affection.
Jesus loved us so much, He died for us. Yet our motivation for falling in love with Jesus is not out of a sense of guilt as though we owe it to Him. Or even loving Christ for what He can do for us now.
Jesus loved us so much, He died for us. Yet our motivation for falling in love with Jesus is not out of a sense of guilt as though we owe it to Him. Or even loving Christ for what He can do for us now. #TeamJesus Click To TweetBut since Jesus loves us, we reciprocate. Because His love is unconditional, it draws our hearts in and strengthens our affections toward Him. This higher and deeper love surpasses love from people—even those who love us well.
In his book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan describes it this way. “Our love for Jesus always comes out of his love for us. Are we in love with God or just his stuff?”
Staying in Love With Jesus
To fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Him means giving all of myself to Him alone, not to the idols or shiny gods of this world. I love Christ more than anyone or anything.
To fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Jesus means giving all of myself to Him alone, not to the idols or shiny gods of this world. I love Jesus more than anyone or anything. #TeamJesus #ilovejesus Click To TweetFalling in love with Christ and staying in love with Him isn’t radical Christianity or even a Jesus freak. It’s the heart of a true disciple.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me first and sending Your Son to die for me. Help me to keep falling in love with Jesus over and over every day, and to stay in love with Him. I pray loving Christ is a show-and-tell affection where I not only tell Him of my love, but I also love Him with all of my heart, soul, and mind. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Are there any thoughts you would add on staying in love with Christ?
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Awesome Post Sister, I was watching/ listening to Billy Graham podcasts this morning and my heart has been filled this morning with the reminders and Love of what Jesus did for us, and then your post pops up and reminds me even more about His Love and what it means. Thank you very much for your post. God Bless You and Yours!!!
Thank you, Stephen. So glad it encouraged you. Yes, the great love of Jesus spurs us to love Him back in a whole-hearted way. “Father, help us fall in love with Jesus over and over every day, and to stay in love with Him. Loving Christ with a show-and-tell affection where we not only tell Him of our love, but also love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind. In the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Amen, Karen! Let us fall head-over-heels, radically and purposefully, in love with Jesus each and every day. Blessings!
Martha, yes, sister! While it takes a continual and intentional effort, staying in love with Jesus is possible and what the Lord intended for our life. I really believe that loving Jesus above anyone or anything IS the heart of true disciples. It’s not radical or being a Jesus freak, but the highest and deepest love relationship on the planet! God bless!
Love is such a deep, deep word, filled with so much meaning. We use it so easily (I LOVE chocolate, I LOVE that show, I LOVE that shirt, even I LOVE so and so). But it is so much more. Great reminder to use it more fully.
So true, Rebecca. I’ve written about that thought. How we use the term “love” for a herd of things from people to food, from possessions to sports teams. No wonder we grow up and stay confused about real love. I pray to experience an authentic love relationship with Jesus himself!
My secret? I fall in love with Him every morning when I awake. The reason? He’s chosen to love me enough to grant me one more day in His service here in this world. Just before drifting off to sleep each night, I utter “Good night Lord. I Love You. Amen”
Great, J.D.! If we practiced telling Jesus we love Him every morning and every night and then showed Him throughout the day, it would so revolutionize our relationship with the Savior! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and contributing to the conversation! They added so much!
His mercies are new each day. Fall in love with Him every morning and start the day by giving Him thanks. 🙂 Great message Karen.
Amen, Melissa! There’s so much power not only in saying, “I love you, Jesus!”, but also in, “Thank you, Jesus!”
Amen! I want to love Him with everything I am! He is everything to me!
I love your charge for us to have a show and tell affection for Him. Everyone needs to know!
Jerralea, I like how you said you want to love Him with everything…He is everything to you. That’s a great point. To fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Him means giving all of ourselves to Him alone, not to the idols or shiny gods of this world. We love Christ more than anyone or anything. Yes, a show-and-tell love!
Such a wonderful, powerful post. Do I want God or just what God can do for me? I read this week that God does not serve us; but we serve God. What selfish creatures we sometimes are? God has given us His best, yet, by our actions, we often say that it’s not enough. We want more. We want things instead of wanting Him. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Karen. I want to reflect on this post. It’s good stuff.
Appreciate your encouraging words, Anneliese. I agree how we often want what Jesus can do for us, His stuff, instead of simply Him. Because Jesus IS enough. When we focus on loving Jesus whole-heartedly, those to-do lists we have for Him most likely take second place to the relationship itself.
I like your concluding thought, Karen: “Falling in love with Christ and staying in love with Him isn’t radical Christianity or even a Jesus freak. It’s the heart of a true disciple.” It’s not unusual. It’s our reasonable and appropriate response. Anything less, though in our imperfect way, doesn’t make sense.
Thank you, Stephen. Yes, this love-relationship with Jesus as top priority should not be seen as something over the top or drastic. And it’s not overkill or overboard. Instead, it’s loving Jesus OVER everything and everyone as God intended the relationship to be all along.
Karen, I absolutely love this post! Oh, how I love Jesus! Holy Spirit, enlarge my heart to love Him more! This is part of my daily prayer. The older I get, the more I realize every other relationship, friendship or connection pales in comparison. May we have eyes to behold the depths of His generous love that we may respond with a generous love back. You are right, this is the heart of a true disciple. One thing that softens my heart to Jesus anew each day is pausing to gaze at what He did for me on the cross, taking in the painful details one by one. My heart melts all over again. May we stay ever close to Jesus, the True Vine, so that His love flows through us, to Him and to the waiting world. Bless you!
Melissa, I like how you said, “May we have eyes to behold the depths of His generous love that we may respond with a generous love back.” Yes! May Jesus continue to melt our hearts at Calvary’s cross and an empty tomb to ignite our love for Him all over again. Not because we owe Him, but because He already paid it all. Jesus, we love You!
Awesome word! I very much want to remain in love with Christ and not ever take the love for granted!
Thank you, Anastasia! We do often take love for granted with people and with Christ. I pray the Lord helps us clearly see His great love so we reciprocate with great love for Him!
Amen! I pray that prayer with you! Thank you for this powerfully encouraging post, which just dovetailed perfectly with my morning Bible study in Hebrews 2. This Great High Priest who became like one of us so that he might take on our sins and we might be made right with God–Jesus–is love-inspiring and hope-prompting and passion-infusing! We fall in love with him all over again every time we read of him, examine his life, and read the stories of others and of how he has loved them. God bless you, sister! Your posts are uplifting every single week!
I love your words, Melinda, how Jesus is love-inspiring, hope-prompting, and passion-infusing! Yes! So grateful for our High Priest who came as fully human and fully God so that He conquered spirtiual death to give us spiritual life! Thanks for your input, Melinda!Blessings to you!
I love that you pointed out that it all begins with Jesus. He loves first. When we remember that, it’s easier to fall in love and stay in love with him!
I agree, Lisa. Jesus went first and set the example for how we love Him back. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks Karen, All I want is “the heart of a true disciple.” Thanks for getting me to think about whether or not I really have one!
Beth, I truly believe that besides the Lord giving us a new heart, He desires to shape our heart to desire Him and have a heart totally and completely after His own heart.
Karen, this is SO good. You are right: Loving God can’t be halfway. It’s an all-in, body/mind/heart/soul thing!
Yes, Jessica, the “halfway” love is enough of a trajedy in relationships with people, much less with the Savior of the world and our souls!
This was a beautiful article. So grateful for His love, His grace, His faithfulness, His mercy! May we fall in love with Jesus over and over again.
Thank you! Lord, help us, teach us, show us how to fall head over heels in love with You!
I love this message! In the movie Fireproof, one of the characters advises another to study his wife in order to save his marriage. Time spent studying God’s Word helps us to stay in love because we spend time with him and learn what pleases him. I like the way you point out that our relationship with Jesus is a reciprocal one The book you quoted, Crazy Love, is one of my favorites. God bless you!
Hey Candice! Thank you! I remember the movie. And so true, reading and meditating and taking God’s Word into our minds and the depths of our soul changes us and sets ablaze our love for Christ. God bless you!
1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us” (ESV) – This is the greatest thing to me. I don’t love to earn something from a harsh master, I don’t love because of duty, or obligation. I love simply because He first loved me. And His love is the most gracious gift ever. Blessings, Karen!
Amen, Lisa. Oh, how Jesus loves us! When we consider this great and amazing love, it can’t help but lead us into a deep love relationship with the love of our life…Jesus!
It’s so cool that though we are commanded to love God, he’s the one who makes it possible to love him! With God, all things are possible!
Agree! How mindblowing that no matter what the Lord asks us to do or desires for our lives, He equips us and provides the means for each one. Lord, give us the means to love You back as we pursue You.
Great post, Karen! I love your point that real love includes both show and tell!
Thanks, Lesley. I thought about a show-and-tell love growing up. I wondered since my parents never verbally expressed it when I was young, maybe if they showed me love, I might actually feel they really loved me. Yet, the Lord has shown me how true love is both show and tell and met first in Jesus Christ!
“Falling in love with Christ and staying in love with Him isn’t radical Christianity or even a Jesus freak. It’s the heart of a true disciple.” This uplifted my spirit. God knows how much I love Him. And as His child, He knows I can be so disobedient. But there are times I really can’t disobey Him because I love Him more than anything in this world and I wouldn’t want to hurt Him.
Exactly, Sheen. I John tells us over and over that if we love Christ, we will obey Him and walk in the light and truth of His commandments. We won’t get it right all the time, Jesus was the only perfect One. But our heart attitude will be one of a desire to both love and obey. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for this beautiful post. I have been on this amazing spiritual journey and every day I ask God please give me the strength to stay in love with him. I ask him to REMOVE ANY AND EVERYTHING that will distract me from Him. It is the greatest feeling in the world to be in love with Jesus.
Hey Sherita, thank you for visiting and commenting. I’m in agreement with you on asking the Lord to remove everything that distracts me from Him and loving Him the most…above all else!
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