Don’t Lose the Love
Millions of men and women every year express their affection for one another by spending time together doing all sorts of things—like talking, walking, eating, and playing games. Over time, the feelings that a man and woman have for one another grow stronger and stronger until it is obvious that they love each other. Many couples often decide to get married, and commit to being with each other “until death.” In the early stages of marriage, their love for each other is strong. But sadly, because a number of men and women do not keep working to make their marriages successful, they begin to lose their “first love.” The love and passion that drove them to get married becomes a distant memory. What they used to “love to do” for each other, eventually becomes a “have to do.”
The New Testament describes the church of Ephesus as being a faithful “bride” of Christ at one time. The Christians who composed that church possessed a dedicated love for Jesus when the church began. The apostle Paul, after having spent three years teaching in Ephesus, wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus, declaring that they were known for their “love for all the saints” (1:15). He then concluded the letter by extending the grace of God to all those in Ephesus “who love our Lord Jesus Christ” (6:24).
Sadly, not many years after Paul wrote these words, the church at Ephesus began to lose its first love. When the apostle John penned the book of Revelation, he recorded the following words that Jesus wanted the Ephesians to read: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…” (2:4-5). Like the wife who no longer sincerely and passionately loves her husband, as she did earlier in their marriage, the church at Ephesus lost the love for Christ that it had in the beginning.
As Christians, we must examine ourselves daily to make sure that we genuinely love Christ as much as we did when we became a part of His bride—the church. The truth is, the love we have for Christ should become deeper and greater every year as we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). We should think and talk about Him more and more every day.
Don’t ever lose your first love!
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