Do You Really Love Jesus?

Note: This is a follow up on the previous article ‘A Ticket To Heaven’

Previously, I talked about what it meant to be saved and how we know if we are saved. Well, in the last two months, I’ve been thinking about the question I left for the readers to think about: 

Do you truly love Jesus at all?

Looking back, I feel that I didn’t even know the answer to this question myself when I challenged people to think about it.I thought it would be helpful to unpack what love is so we can all understand what it means to truly love Jesus. 

First, it would help knowing what love is, right? So today, let’s find out what love actually is. C.S. Lewis, in his book ‘The Four Loves’ talks about the four types of loves:

1. Romantic love (eros) – a different, deeper love than friendship.

2. Friendship love (philia) – the love we feel towards our friends.

3. Affectionate love (storge) – this can range from our mother’s care or admiring cute animals. It’s a certain place, visual, smell or sound that reminds us of happy moments or a loved one.

4. Charity love (agape) – this is God’s unconditional love to us, so much that he gave His only Son to save us from our sins. Agape love stays through thick and thin and doesn’t fade in any circumstance.

God’s love towards us is agape love – sacrificial love that will never let us go. God’s love for us is incomprehensible. It’s unconditional and is something no human could ever achieve to fulfil for anyone, let alone for God.

Many people might stop here and ask: why does God love us? Does he lack something? Perhaps we think that God is lonely and created humans and the earth to satisfy Himself.

No! We are the ones lacking and, in God’s love, God is the one giving us His love so we can find ultimate satisfaction in Him. Our hearts are like a bottomless, infinite pit. How could we expect to fill it with finite things? Only something infinite could fill the void.

The ultimate goal of God’s love is that we can have ultimate satisfaction in Him so that the world is filled with people who treasure, enjoy and love Him.

The ultimate fulfilment of God’s love is found in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins; a sacrifice made out of His love for us, unworthy sinners.

So, what does this mean for us? What is our love to God like? How do we know if we truly love God? Here are some telltale signs:

Love is willing

When we love someone, we don’t need to be asked to spend time with them. We don’t feel forced to be with them and we even forget about time and what we were doing beforehand. When he or she asks us to do something, we don’t think twice – we’ll do it with all our heart’s desire. Our sole purpose, focus and desire is on that person at that moment!

This is the same when we love God. Our sole purpose, focus and desire in life is to do His will, to spend time in His Word and to talk with Him in prayer.

Love encompasses our whole life

Again, when we love something or someone, we spend most of our life with that thing or person. Even when that person or thing isn’t in our physical presence, they’re always on our mind. It influences how we think, feel and interact towards others. There is an aching and desire to be back with said thing and we feel satisfied when we are reunited. When we love someone who, for example, doesn’t like chewing gum (wild example, just so you get my point) we would make an effort to not chew gum in front of them.

When we love God, it shapes our thoughts and actions. We know that God is holy and cannot be around sin – thus, we would make every effort to keep away from sin and be more like God in His holiness.

Love is joyful

This one is pretty straight forward – when you love you feel joyful! There is really no such thing as love which isn’t joyous! 

When we truly love God, we would feel true joy. Joy is different from happiness. It is deeper than just a superficial emotion. True joy can only be found in knowing God and being in a relationship with Him. Sound familiar? This is what being in a relationship, whether romantic or friendship, feels like. We are joyful when we spend time with that person. We feel joyous when we get to know the person better and find out more about them through spending time with them. This same concept can be ‘transferred’ into our relationship with God. Spend more time with Him, get to know Him better through His Word and you’ll find the true joy there is in a relationship with your Creator.

Love gives all

The final main thing is that love gives it all. You wouldn’t hesitate or think twice about giving up time, money or effort to fulfil the wishes of your loved one! Even when you do this, you feel satisfied – you don’t feel you have lost anything. When we love God, we find ultimate satisfaction in God! Whether that be reading the Bible, going to church or serving in ministries – if we are truly on the hunt for ultimate satisfaction, there really shouldn’t be anything temperamental holding us back!

Conclusion

Obviously, love is much, much easier to envision and feel when we can see the person we love. But this is where faith comes into play. 1 Peter 1:8-9 writes that:

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

– 1 Peter 1:8-9 (ESV) –

Though we don’t see Christ, we have both faith in Him and love for Him. In fact, we love Him because of our faith in Him!

Here’s a direct quote from a Desiring God article written by Jon Bloom that honestly sums it up better than I can:

How do we know if we love Jesus? By what we consistently (not perfectly) do and don’t do. All lovers of Jesus keenly know we don’t love him perfectly. “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2), and “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). But “if we say we have fellowship with [Jesus] while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).

– (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-do-i-know-if-i-really-love-jesus#by-this-we-know-love)

Our thoughts and actions tell out our love. Knowing whether we actually love God relies on our actions and obedience. This, of course, is a whole ‘nother article, so stay tuned. 🙂

I know this article has been focused on our love for God. But, in conclusion, let me leave you with some lyrics from a hymn that talks of God’s love for us that I think really shows God’s agape love towards us.

It was Love, E.C. Heidelberg

Why did Jesus give up heaven’s glory

For this world of sin and misery?

Why did Jesus suffer in the garden,

Drain the bitter cup of agony?

Why did Jesus stand in Pilate’s judgement hall,

Wear that cruel crown of thorns so patiently?

Why did Jesus give His life to save me?

It was love, God’s wondrous love for me!

Why does Jesus lift me when I stumble

Take my hand whene’er I go astray?

Give me strength I need for each tomorrow,

Grace to face the trials of the day?

Why does Jesus share the load I cannot bear,

Fill my soul with peace and joy beyond degree?

And why does He watch o’er me and keep me?

It was love, God’s wondrous love for me!

Sources:

https://regenerationz.org/the-ticket-to-heaven/ (my previous article)

https://www.cslewis.com/four-types-of-love/ (C.S. Lewis on the Four Types of Love)

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-love (Part of John Piper’s series ‘Ask Pastor John’)

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-do-i-know-if-i-really-love-jesus (Article by Jon Bloom that I quoted in my article)