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I sat in church on Sunday, listening to a sermon titled How to Fall in Love with Jesus. It had all the right intentions—exalting Christ, stirring deeper affection, welcoming Him into our lives. But as I listened, I realised something: for all the talk of adoration, wonder, and reverence, we never quite touched on the how.

SUMMARY OF SERMON IN QUESTION:
The sermon “How to Fall in Love With Jesus” purports to discuss how to draw closer to Jesus and prepare to receive what God wants to do. It emphasises exalting Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to provide clarity, and stirring deeper affection for Jesus. The sermon encourages seeing Jesus’s radiance and being captivated by his character. It also touches on confessing sins, praising and welcoming Jesus, and seeking His presence. But ultimately, it was all over the place.

Key points:

• Exalting Jesus When God is on the move, Jesus is exalted, and people feel differently towards him.
• The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit helps to see Jesus with greater clarity and stirs a deeper affection.
• Jesus’s Radiance Believers are encouraged to see Jesus’s radiance. God shines forth in Jesus.
• God Speaks in Jesus God speaks in Jesus, who is the operating system of life itself.
• Jesus is the rightful owner of all things Every piece of land belongs to Jesus.
• Confession and Praise Confession of sin sparks praise and leads to welcoming Jesus as king.
• Welcoming Jesus, the King of Glory, may come into our families, homes, businesses, churches, hospitals, and schools.
• CPR on our hearts Confess to Jesus, Praise Jesus, and Receive Jesus individually and as a church.
• The Character of Jesus If you want to be full of wonder at Jesus, get to know his character.
• Good leadership Jesus is a leader of utmost integrity and resilience.
• Goodness of Jesus Even Jesus’s executioners just can’t help but say, “He’s the son of God.”
• The Second Coming When Jesus comes again, he’ll be heralded in the heavens with lightning.

There was a sense of grandeur, a lofty vision of Jesus’s radiance, His second coming, His rightful ownership of all things. But for the person in the pew—the one who truly wants to love Jesus but doesn’t know where to start—it remained out of reach. If this preacher hunted like he preached in this sermon, he’d go hungry. There were words, many words, but no clear path.

And that’s the reality of many pulpits today. It explains why so many ministers are struggling personally, why they burn out, and why their own love for Jesus often feels more like duty than delight. It’s not that they’re bad pastors. It’s that they haven’t been taught. And if they don’t know, how can they teach others? The result? A congregation that leaves the service no closer to loving Jesus than when they arrived—only now they feel a little more incompetent, a little more demoralised. Why? Because how to love Jesus has not been practically and clearly defined.

Pastoring is a gift that I do not pretend to have. So is teaching. They are not the same. A man can shepherd a flock with care, counsel with wisdom, and lead with integrity, and this pastor certainly does all of that—but that does not mean he can teach, and most pastors in my experience can’t.

It is not there fault; they simply don’t have the gift. In the vast majority of churches, the ability to teach—the ability to take divine truth and make it accessible, practical, and transformative—is sorely lacking, and it demonstrates itself in the church’s lack of development.

So, how do you fall in love with Jesus?

Love, in its simplest form, is a byproduct of knowing. You cannot love someone you do not know. And you cannot know someone without spending time with them. Christ-ianity is not about acquiring information about Christ, it is about actually knowing Him up close and personally. That is as simple and as complicated as it gets.

We are not merely passive recipients of love—a simplistic and immature notion—but active participants in a dynamic, ever-deepening loving relationship with God.

We fall in love with Jesus the same way we fall in love with anyone—through time, intimacy, and revelation.

1. Spend Time with Him
   Love grows in proximity. If we want to love Jesus, we must be with Him. Not just in church services, not just in hurried prayers before meals, but in the quiet, consistent moments of daily life. Sit with Him. Talk to Him. Invite Him into the mundane.
2. Listen to His Words
   The Bible is not a textbook—it is a love letter. Every page reveals who Jesus is. His kindness, His strength, His mercy, His justice. The more we read, the more we see Him. And the more we see Him, the more we love Him.
3. Observe His Actions
   Look at how Jesus interacts with people in Scripture. Notice how He touches the untouchable, defends the defenceless, weeps with the grieving, and confronts the self-righteous. When you truly see Jesus—not as an abstract idea but as a living, breathing reality—you will find your heart stirred with love.
4. Engage in Honest Conversation
   Love deepens in vulnerability. Don’t just recite rehearsed prayers—talk to Him. Share your fears, your failures, and your hopes. Let the relationship be real, not ritualistic.
5. Respond to His Love
   We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Love for Jesus is not self-generated; it is awakened by encountering His love for us. Reflect on His sacrifice, His pursuit of you, and His relentless grace. The more you meditate on His love, the more yours will grow in return.

Falling in love with Jesus is not a mystical experience reserved for the spiritual elite. It is simple, accessible, and deeply practical. The problem is not that people do not want to love Jesus—it is that they have not been shown how.

The truth is, Jesus is not very real to most Christians, and that is simply because they do not spend enough time with Him. They know of Him, but they do not know Him. They admire Him from a distance, but they have not drawn close enough to experience His presence in a tangible way. They rely on secondhand encounters—sermons, devotionals, snippets of Scripture—without ever lingering in His presence themselves. Love cannot thrive on borrowed intimacy. We must seek Him for ourselves.

It turns out we in the West are chasing a Hellenistic illusion. We wait to feel something before we act, yet feelings, or emotions, are nothing more than energy-in-motion. That is to say, the energy follows the motion or action. Emotion is merely an indicator of where we have been and what we are doing. Love, in the biblical sense, is not a feeling but a duty—an action. When you do your duty and love God (a verb) by spending time with Him, the feelings will follow automatically.

Christianity is more than just passive consumerism; it is an active, ongoing relationship with God. Too often, modern faith is reduced to merely attending church services, listening to sermons, and consuming Christian content—whether books, music, or social media messages—without truly engaging in the transformative process of knowing and walking with God personally. But Christianity is not just about being a spectator; it is about participation, engagement, and spiritual maturity.

Having access to God and actually utilising that access are not the same thing. Every believer has been granted the incredible privilege of direct access to the Father through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:16 invites us to “come boldly to the throne of grace,” yet many approach God timidly or neglect to approach Him at all. It is one thing to have an open door before you and quite another to step through it.

Consider the difference between owning a key to a house and actually living in it. Many people carry the key of salvation but never fully enter into the richness of relationship with God. They acknowledge His presence but fail to cultivate intimacy with Him through prayer, worship, and obedience. They may believe in the power of God but do not actively walk in it. James 4:8 says,

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

This implies a reciprocal movement—God is always available, but He calls us to press in, to seek, to knock, and to engage with Him personally.

Spiritual passivity leads to stagnation. Just as physical muscles atrophy when not exercised, our faith weakens when we do not actively engage with God. Christianity is a living faith, requiring continual pursuit, growth, and transformation. Jesus did not call His followers to be passive observers; He called them to be disciples—learners and doers of the Word. James 1:22 warns us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

The difference between access and utilisation is like the difference between inheritance and possession. A person can inherit a vast fortune, but if they never withdraw from their account, their life remains unchanged. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), yet it is our responsibility to actively partake in that divine provision.

Christianity, at its core, is about knowing God, not just knowing about Him. It is about walking with Him, not just acknowledging His existence. It is about experiencing His power, not just agreeing that it exists. To live as a true disciple of Christ means moving beyond passive consumption and stepping into a dynamic, ever-deepening relationship with the Creator Himself.

So, the real question is not, How do you fall in love with Jesus? But are you spending time with Him? Because love is not something that happens to us; it is something we cultivate through devotion, practice, and presence. If we are to teach people to love Him, we must first lead them into knowing Him. And in knowing Him, they will find that love is the only possible response.

Devotional Prayer

Lord Jesus,
I don’t want to admire You from a distance—I want to know You, love You, and walk with You in deep, abiding intimacy. Too often, I let the noise of life drown out Your voice, and I settle for a relationship that feels more like obligation than love. But You are not distant, nor are You indifferent. You have pursued me with relentless love.

Draw my heart to You. Help me to sit in Your presence, to hear Your words, to know Your character—not as an idea but as a living reality. Awaken love in me as I meditate on Your kindness, Your power, and Your faithfulness. May my heart burn with affection for You, not just in moments of worship but in the quiet rhythms of my life.

Teach me how to love You—not with empty words, but with real devotion. Let my love be the kind that lingers, that deepens, that transforms the way I live.

Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. When was the last time you truly felt close to Jesus? What was different about that time in your life?
2. How much of your relationship with Jesus is built on routine rather than genuine connection?
3. What are some practical ways you can spend more intentional, unhurried time with Jesus this week?
4. Which aspect of Jesus’ character stirs your heart the most? How can you dwell on that more?
5. If love for Jesus is a response to His love for us, how can you meditate more deeply on the ways He has loved and pursued you?