But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand form its place, unless you repent. Revelation 2:4-5
Fervent, personal, uninhibited, openly displayed first love is the devotion to Christ. This characterizes the new believer and is manifested in relationships with fellow Christians and the lost.
Do you need to return to your first love? Do you need to return wholeheartedly? How do we recover our first love? In Ephesians, the apostle Paul concludes with a benediction: “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity” Ephesians 6:24. Around 30 years later, John wrote to the same church again. This church was active in toil, steadfast in truth, and patient in trial. However, their love for God was declining. Jesus speaks of three exhortations for that church and for all of those who have lost their first love.
We need to begin with remembering. This will help with restoration. We need to mediated on what our relationship with Christ was like when we were first saved. We need to remember how we trust God in the simple and hardest time of our lives. Then we need to repent. Repentance means to change one’s mind and reverse the course, to turn away from our wrong doing. If we have left our first love, we must turn and head back to Him. This is a choice we get to make and an act of the will.
We can find ourselves trusting in friends, family, and even ourselves. We can even let our love for our friends and family compete for our love for God. When we find ourselves in this place of trust and love of others more than God, it shows that our heart is shifting off of him (Jeremiah 17:5). We can even have other substitutes for a God centered love relationship that includes, money, pleasure, friends, work, religious rituals, the teachings of respected leaders and bible knowledge without a relationship with Christ.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your love. I pray that we will stop and look at our life and see if we have replace our first love. God, I pray that you show us where you are not first love in our lives.
In Jesus Name
Amen
