How do I get a passion for Jesus?

Do you know someone who is a self-proclaimed “Jesus Freak”? Do you wonder why your feelings about Jesus aren't as passionate? While we may not all be wired to be "freaks" for Jesus, we see in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. What does that look like? What does it mean to love God with everything in us and with every part of us? How do we get a passion for Jesus?

Get to know Jesus.

You can’t have a passion for someone or something you know nothing about. So get to know Jesus—just as you would a new friend. Take time each day to read a bit of the Bible; just pick one part and really take time to study it. Maybe start with Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John because those are the stories of Jesus' life and teaching. Discover what Jesus said while He walked the earth, see how He interacted with people around Him, and find out what the gospel means for you personally. When you get to know Jesus, your love for Him will grow all the more. Giving Him time in your life is key to strengthening your relationship with Him.

Talk to Jesus.

When we're growing closer to a friend or falling in love, we're in constant communication with the other person. It's hard to develop love for someone you don’t talk to on a regular basis. It's the same way with God. We talk to Him through prayer, and He talks to us through the Holy Spirit and His Word, the Bible.

If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, believing He died and rose again for the forgiveness of your sin, you started up a relationship with God (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 1 John 3:1). Just like you have a relationship with your friends, family, or significant other, God wants the same kind of close relationship with you. He wants to talk to you, and He wants you to talk to Him (Jeremiah 33:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Communication is essential for growing as children of God and discovering more of who God is.

Surround yourself with followers of Christ.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." —Proverbs 27:17

You know how when you love a certain team, movie franchise, or book series, you can get a thrill of excitement from being around like-minded people? Being around other believers who are already passionate about Jesus can help spur us on. We tend to become like the people we’re around, and when we’re around people who share the same passions as we do, we're likely to grow in that passion too.

Find a local Bible-teaching church and begin to grow in your love for Christ with the believers there. If they have community groups for your age group, investigate it and see if it would be a healthy place for you to make friends. Serve, pray, and study the Bible with other growing AND more mature believers. Let their passion for Jesus influence you in positive ways and make your passion for Him stronger.

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." —Hebrews 10:24-25

Eliminate the competition for Jesus in your life.

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." —Matthew 6:24

Jesus says we cannot serve two masters, which means that we can't be 100% dedicated to more than one thing. (That's not how math works!) Either our heart’s "all in" on Jesus, or our heart’s all in on something else. OK, yes, we can love Jesus with our whole hearts and love other things too, but those things should never be in competition with our love for Him. Jesus should always be the thing we value most.

Because we live in a fallen world, sin and temptations will always try to captivate our attention and passions (Romans 7:7-8:1; 1 Peter 5:8). While it's truly fine to have hobbies and deep interests, we should not allow them to steal away time and energy that is due to Jesus. That’s what Jesus was talking about in John 17—that we should live in the world without being of the world. That's why it’s important to consistently keep working on our relationship with Him.

"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." —John 17:14-16

If I've lost touch with Jesus, will He even want me back?

If you’ve had a passion for Jesus in the past but have started to feel it fading, don’t worry! That's a natural thing that happens to all Christians from time to time (2 Samuel 11; Luke 22:54). If you feel it's happening to you, go back to what ignited your faith fire in the first place. Repent of any known sin that’s led you away from God, and ask Him to restore your passion for Him. He will delight in doing so every time.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." —1 John 1:9

Jesus is worth everything—every moment of time set aside for Him, every positive change that brings you closer to Him, every time you refuse a sinful temptation in order to remain faithful. Surrender your heart to Him. Even if you can only do it a little bit at a time, just start there.

Jesus will lead you into the best life possible. It will be challenging at times, but nothing on earth can compare with loving Jesus and following Him (John 16:33). It’s what our hearts were made for, and when we surrender to His will, we can have confidence that He will be with us every step of the way (Hebrews 13:5).

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