Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
—Revelation 2:4
Sometimes as believers, we can look back and say, There was a time in my walk with Christ where my love was much stronger than it is today. That affection is gone. That passion is gone. The communication is broken down. And in effect, the honeymoon is over.
This was the situation with the church in Ephesus. Jesus told them, "I know your works. . . . Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love" (Revelation 2:1, 4). They were an active, busy, engaged church, but they were lacking in love. The apostle Paul, and possibly the apostle John, had pastored this church. When Revelation was written, this church was in its second generation. Therefore, many of these people had been raised in a Christian home. They were born to believing parents and had been taught the Word of God from their youth.
Jesus even said, "You have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary" (verse 3). "Labored" could be translated, "labored to the point of exhaustion." These were hardworking people. They were discerning. They were faithful. But they were guilty of a sin that the average person could not detect: they had left their first love.
They had not lost their first love; they left it. If you lose something, you don't know where it is. But you can leave something. You can walk away from it. That is what Jesus was talking about. He was telling these believers they no longer loved Him as they first did.
They were so busy maintaining their separation, they were neglecting their adoration. They were substituting perspiration for inspiration. It is a big deal to lose your first love. Why? Because it can lead to worse things down the road.
This was the situation with the church in Ephesus. Jesus told them, "I know your works. . . . Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love" (Revelation 2:1, 4). They were an active, busy, engaged church, but they were lacking in love. The apostle Paul, and possibly the apostle John, had pastored this church. When Revelation was written, this church was in its second generation. Therefore, many of these people had been raised in a Christian home. They were born to believing parents and had been taught the Word of God from their youth.
Jesus even said, "You have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary" (verse 3). "Labored" could be translated, "labored to the point of exhaustion." These were hardworking people. They were discerning. They were faithful. But they were guilty of a sin that the average person could not detect: they had left their first love.
They had not lost their first love; they left it. If you lose something, you don't know where it is. But you can leave something. You can walk away from it. That is what Jesus was talking about. He was telling these believers they no longer loved Him as they first did.
They were so busy maintaining their separation, they were neglecting their adoration. They were substituting perspiration for inspiration. It is a big deal to lose your first love. Why? Because it can lead to worse things down the road.
