When I was a child and asked Jesus into my heart, I felt an incredible joy and closeness to Him. I sang to Him everyday songs that I made up. These are some of my best memories of my childhood.
Then I turned my back on Him as a teen. It was at age 19 that I surrendered my life to Jesus as Lord. Again, there was an incredible sense that I had fallen in love with my Savior. They were intense joy-filled times where I was extremely close to Jesus.
Nine years later I met my husband, Travis. As I was falling in love with him, I was also falling in love with Jesus all over again.
In fact, I recognized the connection extremely clearly. My ultimate destination is to be a bride of Christ and my marriage to Travis was preparing me for that.
After marrying him, we experienced some extremely hard times. I knew that the only way to get through it was to keep falling in love with Jesus.
Because just like a marriage, sometimes love grows cold. Jesus talks about this in Revelations. It’s sadly an easy situation to find yourself in. As the saying goes, “familiarity breeds contempt,” or more like complacency.
Then fast forward to last May. I went to a worship conference that rocked my world. Because I fell in love with Jesus all over again. It brought me back to those early days when I used to sing spontaneous love songs to Him.
When you fall in love with Jesus, you are taking a step in the direction of becoming His bride. You are embarking on a transformative journey to become more intimate with Him. The more intimate you are with Him, the more you share that with others. The more you find joy and the more you grow. And the better your relationships will be.
Will it be easy? Certainly not! But falling in love with Jesus is essential to living the Christian walk! It is truly a thrilling journey!
So how can you practically fall in love with Jesus? Here are five ideas to help you:
1) Spend time in His Word
This is so important. Sadly, so many Christians do not know or read the Bible consistently. The Apostle John in John 1 states that Jesus IS the word of God, therefore it’s extremely important we know the Bible backwards and forwards.
How does an agent discover counterfeit money? By studying the original! In the same way by knowing the Word you will know what objective truth is and not fall prey to today’s errors of thought. Which will take you away from falling in love with Him.
2) Read the Psalms every day
I’ve been reading a Psalm consecutively night and day for years. It’s such an ingrained habit I can’t NOT do it. It’s the number one action that keeps me on track. God directs me through this reading, brings me comfort, and most importantly, brings me closer to Him through reading it.
3) Prayer
Obviously if we are to get close to Jesus we need to spend time in prayer. Prayer is a two-way conversation. That’s why reading the Bible is so important: it’s like a love letter. Offering up your praises, thanksgivings, confessions, burdens, questions, concerns, problems, hopes, dreams, and more will help you focus your attention on Him, not whatever challenge you are facing.
And prayer is powerful in the hands of believers: “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” as it says in James 5:16 (NASB).
Therefore don’t minimize prayer, especially spiritual warfare prayer. Take up the Sword of the Spirit.
4) Journaling
Keeping a journal is a wonderful way of falling in love with Jesus, in essence writing love letters to Him. You can tell your story to Him, get your feelings out, ask Him questions, record your prayers and then come back and record answers. It’s a powerful way of connecting with Him.
5) Soaking prayer
Soaking prayer is letting God talk to you. It’s not saying anything to Him but spending time in His presence listening. It’s NOT emptying your mind. The best way to engage in soaking prayer is by listening to meditative music. Spending an hour a week in this restful activity will refresh and revive you.
6) Praise
Sing praise songs. Meditate in your heart about His attributes that you praise Him for. Listen to praise songs. Even listen to them while you sleep!
7) Get involved in a church community
Go to church. Go to conferences. If church is hard for you because you have been hurt before, try a home church. Or even start one! Get mentored. Mentor someone.
8) Get involved in ministry
Don’t keep the love to yourself. Grow in your callings and reach out to others. Share the gospel. Do you know only two percent of Christians lead others to Christ? Plant seeds and if God wills, be the harvester! But God is looking for laborers because the harvest is plentiful!
Falling in Love with Jesus is a lifelong pursuit with incalculable rewards. Jesus loves you and wants to be close to you. Spend time with Him in His Word and prayer and you will discover life transformation!
