Loving God with Everything You Are

Michael Youssef, Ph.D.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4).

Read Revelation 2:1-7.

The greatest tragedy of the Christian life is not persecution or suffering. It’s not the loss of material things or broken relationships. No, the greatest tragedy of the Christian life is boredom.

I realize this may sound strange at first. We’re used to boredom in other parts of life. We sit in traffic, waiting for the car in front of us to begin moving. We flip through hundreds of channels on the television, hoping to find something to watch to pass the time. We stare blankly at our phones, waiting for our number to be called at the DMV. We understand what it is to be bored.

However, the boredom I’m talking about is much more insidious. Sadly and tragically, many of us are bored with Jesus. We’ve lost our first love, and we are now standing still in our relationship with Christ.

In the Christian life, you either go backward or forward. You cannot stand still. That is why it is essential that we know how to go forward in our love for Christ, how to fall in love with Jesus and grow in our love for Him.

You may be serving in church. You may be ministering to other people. You may be leading a small group. You may be doing all the right things. But none of it matters if your love for Jesus grows cold and your walk with Him becomes stagnant.

Many of us have confused being busy for the Lord with being in a relationship with Him. But ministry is not the same as loving Jesus.

I am convinced that God cares more about His children loving Him than He does about what they are doing for Him. You see, when we love Him, we’re going to do everything He wants us to do anyway. Obedience is a byproduct of our love because true love for Jesus is always accompanied by a surrendered life.

Growing more and more in love with Jesus begins by yearning to know and experience and love Him more than anything else in life.

Of course, this sort of hunger does not come all at once. It comes a bit at a time as we trust Him and follow Him. Scripture says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). As we taste, we will desire more. Soon, we’ll begin to crave more and more of Jesus, and nothing else will sound good to us—only Him.

Prayer: Jesus, help me to desire more of You as I trust and follow You each day. Help me to see Your love for me, that I might draw closer to You. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.