I went to church and Sunday school every week because he came and got me and took me. He loved me in other ways. He used to hold me in his lap. I know that he was teaching me that there is a place on God's lap where only I fit and belong. These are two illustrations of the cultivation of love.
Love prepares the way for love.
It may be that those who have known a lot of love can know the love of God when it comes more easily than others can. They can recognize it. All of us have parts of our lives like the path, or the shallow soil, or the tangled place where there are weeds. Give those areas to God and then don't take them back. Instead, live in the part of your life that is deep and well cultivated so that the Gospel can grow there.