“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”
— Matthew 22:37–38
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I always hear people say that they love Jesus, but then I watch their lives contradict their statements. So what is love?
I saw a great definition of love online the other day, and I reworded it this way:
“Love reveals itself by what we pursue, where we focus our attention, what we give our desire and affection to, what shapes our priorities, and what directs our actions. Our lives naturally move toward what our hearts treasure.”
Jesus said:
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Matthew 6:21
So how do you know that you are truly in love with Jesus?
1. You want to be in the presence of Jesus.
You can't wait to be alone with Him, sit with Him, hear His voice, talk with Him, and simply enjoy His presence. When you love someone, being with that person isn't a chore. You desire their presence.
Psalm 63:1–2 — “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You... So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.”
Psalm 42:1–2 — “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Psalm 84:1–2 — “How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
Psalm 27:4 — “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD...”
Psalm 16:11 — “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
2. You think about Him all the time.
When you are in love with someone, your thoughts are always on that person. You wake up thinking about him or her. You go to sleep thinking about him or her. You can't wait to be with that person, and you plan your time around that encounter.
It is the same way with Jesus. Your mind continually returns to Him.
Isaiah 26:3 — “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
Psalm 63:6 — “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.”
Psalm 1:2 — “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
Colossians 3:1–2 — “Seek those things which are above, where Christ is... Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
3. He is your first priority.
Nothing rivals your love for Jesus. He is your first priority and greatest pursuit. You don't allow idols to take His place in your heart. He doesn't take a backseat to another relationship, career, hobby, money, possessions, or even your own personal desires.
Jesus isn't simply part of your life. He is Lord of your life.
Matthew 10:37 — “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”
Matthew 6:33 — “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...”
Exodus 20:3 — “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Psalm 73:25 — “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.”
1 John 2:15 — “Do not love the world or the things in the world.”
4. Your goal is to please God regardless of what other people think.
When you love Jesus, His opinion becomes more important than people's approval. Your goal becomes pleasing the One you love, even when following Him isn't popular.
2 Corinthians 5:9 — “Therefore we make it our aim...to be well pleasing to Him.”
Colossians 1:10 — “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him...”
Galatians 1:10 — “For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 2:4 — “Not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.”
5. Love equals sacrifice, so you are willing to give up anything to follow Him.
Real love costs something. When you love Jesus, your time, energy, resources, plans, and desires become His. There isn't anything you should be unwilling to surrender if He asks for it.
Jesus isn't someone we simply add to the life we've already chosen. Following Him means laying our lives down before Him.
Luke 9:23 — “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Luke 14:33 — “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
Philippians 3:7–8 — “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ... I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Romans 12:1 — “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
6. You honor God with your life and aim to glorify Him.
When you're in love with Jesus, you don't just honor Him at church. You want your entire life to bring Him glory—your words, behavior, relationships, work, money, decisions, and even what you do when nobody else is watching.
1 Corinthians 10:31 — “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Colossians 3:17 — “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus...”
Matthew 5:16 — “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
7. You surrender your will to God and live in a posture of humble submission.
When you love Jesus, you trust Him enough to surrender your will to His.
It stops being, “Jesus, bless what I want,” and becomes, “Jesus, what do You want?”
Sometimes loving Him means saying no to ourselves so that we can say yes to Him.
Jesus Himself demonstrated this posture toward the Father:
Luke 22:42 — “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Proverbs 3:5–6 — “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
James 4:7 — “Therefore submit to God.”
Romans 12:2 — “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
8. You love what He loves and hate what He hates.
When we love Jesus, His heart begins changing our hearts. The things that grieve Him begin grieving us. The things He loves become precious to us.
That also means that if we love Jesus, His love begins changing how we love people.
Psalm 97:10 — “You who love the LORD, hate evil!”
Romans 12:9 — “Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”
John 15:12 — “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
1 John 4:20 — “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar...”
We cannot separate loving Jesus from loving people.
9. You obey His commands and His voice.
This is one of the clearest tests Jesus Himself gave us concerning whether we love Him.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
— John 14:15
Jesus didn't say, “If you love Me, tell everyone you love Me.” He connected love directly to obedience.
John 14:21 — “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
John 14:23–24 — “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word... He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”
1 John 5:3 — “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.”
Obedience doesn't earn His love or salvation. Rather, obedience is one of the fruits that grows from a heart that loves Him.
10. You worship God and freely give Him your love.
When you love Jesus, worship isn't merely something you do during a church service. Worship becomes the response of your heart to the One you love.
You want to praise Him, adore Him, thank Him, honor Him, and pour your affection upon Him.
1 Chronicles 16:29 — “Give to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!”
Psalm 95:6 — “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”
John 4:23–24 — “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”
Mary gives us one of the most beautiful pictures of extravagant love and worship:
John 12:3 — Mary took very costly fragrant oil, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. The fragrance filled the entire house.
Her love wasn't merely spoken. Her love was demonstrated by what she was willing to pour out at His feet.
So perhaps the real question isn't simply:
“Do I say that I love Jesus?”
The deeper question is:
“If someone watched my life without hearing my words, would they be able to tell that I am in love with Him?”
What receives my time?
What occupies my thoughts?
What captures my affection?
What am I pursuing?
What am I unwilling to surrender?
Whose approval am I seeking?
Who am I obeying?
Because ultimately, our lives naturally move toward what our hearts treasure.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Matthew 6:21