1 John 4:19 - “We love because he first loved us.”

People often ask me, “How do you practically continue to ’stay in love’ with the Lord like you do?” Really, it’s very simple. I do it the same way people have always stayed in love. I spend time with Him. I listen to Him. I let Him love me. I thank Him for the things He does for me.

I love just spending time in Jesus’ presence, with no agenda other than being with him, worshiping him, being in tune with his heartbeat. I talk to him; I listen; I worship. I let him fill me with his love. I don’t look at my watch when I pray. I have no idea how to compartmentalize God. I don’t separate out my time with God and say, “Here You go, Lord. This is Your special time.” All my time is His time. He is my everything. He is like breathing to me. How could I say to the one I most love: “You can have this half hour, but I’m busy; I have a lot of stuff I need to do today.” I wouldn’t dream of it.

Jesus is the one who loves us more than anyone, the one who gave His life to save ours and has invested his entire being in loving us completely. Surely this demands our full commitment in return? But more than all of that, I practically “stay in love” with Jesus because the more I get to know him, the more incredible I realize he is. Just when I think I know him pretty well, another layer of incredible, unsurpassed beauty and majesty is revealed. His love and grace know no bounds. We’ve barely scratched the surface. This is our Savior.
(Adapted from Heidi and Rolland Baker’s, Reckless Devotion.)

We “stay in love” because he first loved us and keeps loving us firstly. Let’s respond to his loving us first in practical ways each day.

-AP