Falling in Love with Jesus – His Character

The truth of God can be heard and experienced, but the depth and maturity of a relationship come with knowing the very character of God.  Truly knowing who He is and embracing the fullness of His character.  A relationship built on an idea of a God or experiences with Him will falter with trials and longevity.  It will disappoint.  However, when you know and fall in love with the character of God, the very essence of who He is; when the truth of who He is valued far greater than the idea or the experience had with Him, the depth of the relationship penetrates the heart and mind. 

The idea of God and the experiences with Him need to be built on the foundation of who God really is and His character found in His Word.  However, as Christ followers, we often (mostly unintentionally) live this out in reverse.  The idea of who God is and the experiences we have along the journey define the truth and character of God. 

The difference is that with the former, the true character of God is first sought out from the Bible, THEN ideas and life experiences are built on it with God as our foundation.  With the latter, ideas and experiences precede the Bible, THEN the character of God is created by each individual as one’s thoughts determines – the Bible is read, but it is a secondary source to thoughts or experiences.  Such faith is built on a shaky foundation since if the idea or the experience in life changes, then the truth about Him becomes obscure and confused.  No wonder God’s faithfulness and love are questioned when storms come through in the life’s journey.  However, when His truth, gathered through His Word, is the foundation and the ideas and experiences come out of His truth, such faith will not shake when the storms blow through life since the truth of God, not an idea or an experience, defines the ground in which the relationship stands.

Falling in love with Jesus looks a lot like falling in love with the REAL and true character of Jesus.