Mark 12:28-31

28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

One of the hardest things about standing for the truth is being willing to recognize the truth when it confronts you. I experienced such a confrontation today while listening to the Paul Baloche song ‘Falling’. The song talks about falling in love with Jesus.

I admit that in my days as a pastor, I sometimes talked about this principle. I suppose I learned it during the time I spent with Calvary Chapel. The idea of falling in love with Jesus seems innocent enough. It even seems attractive if you’re the type of person who has had a bad experience with legalism. The problem is that it’s not scriptural.

In our text from Mark’s gospel, we can clearly see that loving the Lord is a command. And in fact, we are commanded to love him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. The fact that love is a commandment also stipulates that it is a choice. Commandments can either be obeyed or disobeyed.

I did some research into the phrase ‘falling in love’. I discovered a couple of interesting things. First and foremost, psychology links the idea of falling in love with sexual attraction and romantic feelings. That’s troubling when you associate such thoughts with following the command to love God.

I also discovered that most people who attempt define falling in love say that it’s something one can’t control. We allegedly can’t determine who we fall in love with and who we don’t have any attraction to. It’s just an act of nature. Yet loving God is a command. We can control it.

The point I’m trying to make is this: falling in love is a phrase we use to describe human emotions that almost always relate to romantic feelings and/or sexual attraction. That being the case, it’s wholly inappropriate to apply the concept to the Christian walk. Speaking of falling in love with Jesus cheapens the Christian walk. It reduces it to little more than an emotional exercise.

I, for one, will no longer entertain the idea of falling in love with Jesus. I won’t encourage others to do it. I will not sing about it. The command to love the Lord rises so far above human emotion that discussing it the framework of falling in love with Jesus is to demean the Savior and the true love he rightly deserves.

Please, don’t allow yourself to fall in love with Jesus. Instead, love him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. It is the biblical way to love.

Posted on: December 8, 2020