What does it mean to fall in love with Jesus? How and where do you start?
Like with any relationship, you need to get to know Him. That kind of knowledge takes time and commitment, just like with any close relationship you have. Jesus invites you to “abide” in His love — to rest and stay in His love always knowing you are in His arms and under His protection — in Christ.
God doesn’t want you to stand at a distance looking at Him; he wants to draw you in and for you to come to understand He is closer than a whisper.
In John 15:9, He said, “‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now REMAIN in my love.’”
-Obedience is the best place to start.
When we are right with God we are at peace. No healthy relationship can have tension or division.
-Talking with Him like you would with any other person you know, love and trust is crucial to getting to know Him and build your relationship.
-Reading His word is an absolute must- how else will you grow to know His heart and will and His ways?
Jesus wants our affections and our emotions; to be the longing of your heart.
For many, following God is a head knowledge, intellectual, and academic experience. They go to church, they may read their Bibles, they say their prayers before meals and before bedtime, and sometimes in between, but that’s as far as it goes. They know who Jesus is, believe He is the Son of God who died for their sins and choose to follow Him and do their best to live good moral lives.
But... to fall in love with Jesus; it must move from your head to your heart. Jesus is a real person, not just someone to be studied.
Think of a person that you love dearly, that you feel close and safe with, someone you trust with everything, that you can talk about anything with, knowing they will love you, and encourage you, and always be there for you.
Do you feel loved by this person? Do you love being with this person? Do you look forward to spending time with this person? Of course you do because it is a two way loving relationship. They love and care for you, and you love to love and care for them.
Maybe you’ve heard this saying, “The longest journey is the 18 inches from your head to your heart.” Think about what that is saying: What you think and what you feel are totally different. There can be a disconnect, and it may feel like a long way apart. So, “The gospel is in my head, but it isn’t in my heart.” If you feel that the gospel hasn’t grabbed a hold of your heart or really changed you, you’ll be tempted to keep looking for some kind of emotional experience that will that void.
The problem isn’t that the truth needs to make a long journey from the head to the heart.
The problem is that the gospel truth your the mind isn’t big enough or real enough to capture your heart, so it makes very little difference to how you actually live your life.
So, when you read about Jesus standing by a shamed woman, in John 8, calling out the sin of others as they were wanting to stone her; put yourself in her shoes and Jesus doing that for you.
How does that make you feel? If this was the person I asked you to think about earlier, how would you respond to that person? How would it move your heart towards them? What feelings would this well up within you?
Remember when Jesus stood at a well in John 4, talking to another woman who had been shunned because of her life choices; picture Him talking to you despite how others may talk based on your life choices.
Then stand stand in the crowd and watch, listen, and experience Jesus endure false accusations, being betrayed by His friends, being beaten and then nailed to a cross; all the while knowing it should be you, and that His Father’s face turned away from His precious Son, so you could be free from the punishment of sin- Oh, how that should move your heart to love Him more.
(Read more here - https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-stories/crucifixion-of-jesus-bible-story.html)
Another way to help you fall in love with Jesus is to look back on your life and to see how He has cared for you by putting people in your life that have loved you, cared for you. This should stir in you to live with a grateful heart for His grace and goodness, and His kindness and new mercies upon you each day.
There are so many reasons to love Jesus. As you awake each morning, ask Jesus to open your eyes to see His beauty, and to fill your heart with His love so that your love for Him may abound more and more as you abide in Him, by walking in His ways.