Forsaken our First Love?

I’m blessed to be doing a study in the book of Revelation again. Each time I begin reading thru the book, I always come to a halt at Chapter 2, the letter to the church at Ephesus. How does a church doing so many good things....”I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary”…..forsake its first love? Even still, how do I forsake my first love? I want to know so that I don’t fall under this condemnation.


Sometimes this verse is used to promote our love for God.....“Remember your first love. Remember how much you loved Jesus at the beginning and go back to that. Love Him like you used to.” But, I don’t think that is all there is. Eric and I will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary this December. Every year has been better than the last! In our first year, we loved each other with all our hearts. But, since then, our capacity for love has grown. Our hearts have gotten bigger. We love each other more deeply. We’ve been through lots of “stuff.” We’ve had two sweet babies together. We’ve been thru surgeries and sickness. We’ve faced financially hard times. We’ve faced the death of loved ones together. To go back to our first “years” of love would actually be somewhat of a step backwards for us. I think it’s the same with Jesus. I know and love Jesus more now than I ever did. We’ve been through some “stuff.” We’ve been to mountain-tops and to the valley floor. We’ve faced death together. He created me, so He has always known me completely. But, each year I learn more about him and his limitless love for me. Every year is better than the last! So, I’m not sure Jesus is just telling the Ephesians to love Him like they did in the beginning.....that could actually be a step back in a sense.

For Jesus to say to the Ephesians that they had forsaken their first love, that they needed to repent and do the things they did at first, tells us that there was something seriously wrong. It is obvious that the Ephesians had lost their zeal. Jesus does commend their hard work. But, then He says they’re not doing the things they did at first. So they’re working hard but to some extent it is the wrong sort of work. Perhaps their prayer meetings were lifeless. Perhaps they went about their works of service without any real enthusiasm. Perhaps they are no longer resting, but striving. The poor may be getting food, but were they also getting the good news preached to them and setting them free. The sick may have been getting “hospital visits” but were they also getting healed by believers who believe that they have authority to heal in Jesus’ name? They had become known for their works, not His. We can conclude that the Ephesians were a hard-working, non-loving church. They sound a lot like a church that’s coming back under the law. They may have started out with grace but they are now trying to attain their goal by human effort. Sadly, we see it in our churches today. So, the problem with the Ephesians was that they had lost something of their understanding of God’s love for them. They had forgotten that they were beloved sons of God. They were a busy church but their works were based on their love for God rather than His love for them.

John, the beloved disciple, was at one time a member of the Ephesian church. He was famous for reminding people of the Father’s lavish love toward us. “Love comes from God” (1 Jn 4:7). “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (1 Jn 4:10). This is our first love! “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). Our love flows out of, and is a response to, His love. He is our love-source.

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” Eph 3:17-19.

Love Never Fails. Remember your first love. Remember how you were first loved!
Angela