Return to Your First Love

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

Revelation 2:4 (NIV)

It is possible to be extremely busy for God and slowly become distant from God.

That is the uncomfortable truth behind this verse, and it needs saying plainly, especially to those of us who serve.

Look at what Jesus says to the church in Ephesus before He says anything critical. Read Revelation 2:2-3. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, 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.”

That is an extraordinary commendation. This was a hard-working church. A doctrinally careful church. A church with the discernment to identify false teachers and the backbone to reject them. A church that had suffered for the name of Jesus and had not quit.

By almost every measure we use, Ephesus was a successful church.

And Jesus says: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

We should let that unsettle us, because it means that activity, orthodoxy, endurance and discernment can all be present while the central thing has quietly drained away. You can hold the right doctrine about Christ and lose your love for Christ. You can defend the faith and neglect the Person.

Now, what is this “first love”? Some understand it as their love for Jesus, some as their love for one another. The truth is you cannot separate them, and John’s letters make that clear. Where love for Christ cools, love for people cools too. Where a church becomes vigilant without warmth, doctrinally sharp but relationally cold, the diagnosis is the same.

This is where ministry becomes dangerous. Ministry can never replace intimacy with Jesus. We can organise, lead, preach, sing, run rotas, counsel and give while our own heart is slowly drying out. In fact serving can disguise the problem, because the fruit of activity keeps appearing and nobody notices the root.

Jesus said it in Matthew 7:22-23. On that day many will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” And He will say, “I never knew you.” That is one of the most sobering passages in Scripture, and its subject is not immorality. It is impressive ministry without relationship.

Jesus does not primarily want what you can do for Him. He wants you.

So think back. Can you remember when you could not wait to pray? When worship was not a service you attended but an appetite you had? When you read the Bible late into the night because you were hungry, not because you were preparing something for someone else?

Maybe that fire does not feel as strong as it once did. If so, do not despair, and do not fake it either. Jesus does not tell Ephesus to try harder. Look at what He actually prescribes in verse 5: “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

Three steps, and they are worth following exactly.

Consider. Remember. Be honest about the distance. Do not minimise it and do not dramatise it. Just look at it clearly. When did the warmth begin to go? What crowded it out?

Repent. This is the word that surprises people. Jesus does not call cooled love a phase. He calls it something to repent of. That may sound severe, but it is actually liberating, because repentance is a door, and it is always open. You are not stuck waiting for a feeling to return. You can turn today.

Do the things you did at first. Notice this is action, not emotion. Jesus does not say “feel what you used to feel.” He says do what you used to do. Return to the practices: unhurried prayer, Scripture read for your own soul, worship where you are not working, confession, generosity, time with believers who stir your faith. Feelings usually follow obedience rather than leading it. Set the fire and God will supply the flame.

Let me add a practical word. Make room. Most of us do not lose our first love through a dramatic fall. We lose it through crowding. The diary fills, the phone fills the gaps, and the quiet places where love is nourished disappear. If your soul is dry, look first at your calendar and your screen time before you look for a deeper explanation.

And be honest with Him. You do not have to pretend. Tell Him exactly where you are: “Lord, I have been busier for You than I have been with You.” He knows already, and honesty is where restoration begins.

The One who is speaking in Revelation 2 is described in the previous chapter as walking among the lampstands. He has not left the church He is correcting. He is right there in the middle of it, holding the stars in His right hand.

So do not settle for spiritual routine. Consider, repent, and do the first things again. Make room for Jesus, and let the fire burn.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, You know my deeds, my work and my perseverance, and You also know my heart. Where love has cooled, I do not want to cover it with more activity. I consider how far I have drifted. I repent, not as a formality but honestly. Help me to do the things I did at first: to pray unhurried, to read Your Word for my own soul, to worship without a role. Clear out what has crowded You out of my days. You did not come for my service first; You came for me. Restore the fire. In Your name, amen.

Declaration

Jesus wants me, not just my service. I return to my first love today by doing the first things again.

Pastor Ras

All Nations Community Church

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