How can I have a relationship with God?

Is it possible to have a living, personal relationship with God? What does that mean in daily life?

Watch this video as Susi shares about how we can get to know God.

Click to watch Part 1 of this series on God’s love for us and how to love God in return.

Audio transcript

Susi: A personal relationship with God can sound abstract, but it is very simple. We all have relationships with other people. And a relationship with God is built on the same thing. I’m interested in knowing Him, I spend time with Him, I get to know how He thinks. I know that He’s interested in me. I prioritize that relationship. And my relationship with God is also the first place I go for help. So, to live in a personal relationship with God is the way I think.

Relationships grow. You build a relationship. So, in the beginning, also, of my Christian life, I can want to get to know God, but I grow over time. And it becomes more and more valuable for me. In the beginning, it’s really an exercise. And it says in Colossians 3 to set your mind on things above. I can actually put my thoughts there, I can read His Word, I can take time to listen, and think: “What is God saying to me now?” and it becomes more and more natural.

What does being faithful to God mean?

When I really love someone, I want to be true to them. I want them to trust me, I trust them. And another way of being true is to be faithful. And when I really love God, I want to be absolutely faithful to Him. And that means keeping His commandments. It also means being obedient to Him at all costs.

There can be decisions that I make where I realize to be faithful to God might not be approved of by everybody else. Or maybe it’s really going to cost me personally. But there is no way around it. It can mean that there are thoughts that come up, where I’m like, “I can’t think those, I say stop.” It can also be ways I spend my time. If I’m diligent, God reminds me. “How am I using my time?” And I can be faithful to spend my time the way God wants me to. And the truth is, I’ll be so much happier at the end of the day. But I have to be willing to say “No” to something that wants to come in.

God’s plans for me are very far-reaching

The wonderful part about God’s plans for me is that they are very far-reaching. He has plans for me on this earth, good plans, and He wants me to learn and grow. But He is preparing me, more than anything, for eternity. And it’s so important that I use my time now in faithfulness to Him, so that I am prepared for those plans He has for eternity. Because that relationship with God starts now, but I carry it into eternity. And there I’ll get to work and serve in a completely different and much greater way. But it is only through faithfulness now that I will reach the end goal that God has for me.