A relationship with Jesus means following Him with your whole heart.
Andi Andrews, in an article for I believe, writes….
Our relationship with Jesus searches our belief systems and heart motives in order to bring about inward and outward transformation. Take the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, in Matthew 5–7. Jesus does not hold back when teaching His disciples.
In each layer of revelation, He raises the bar. He starts with the Beatitudes and moves into being salt and light, a city on a hill, and the light of the world that cannot be hidden. He speaks of how He has come to fulfill the law, raising the standard for us as His followers. When He speaks of murder, He makes it clear that unholy anger with our brothers and sisters brings damage to our hearts and lives as much as taking a life does; when He speaks of adultery, He says that merely lusting after another is tantamount to the same thing. He goes on to counter our thinking about divorce, making oaths, and justice—no longer is it an eye for an eye but we’re now to turn the other cheek. And we’re commanded to love not only our neighbor—that’s easy—but also our enemy.
She continues…
It’s impossible to halfheartedly follow Jesus, it’s an all-in life; the Sermon on the Mount reveals this truth to us. We cannot claim to be Christians or followers of Jesus and go on living a nominal existence.