First Love

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:² ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

Revelation 2:1-5

Jesus’ letter to the church Ephesus in this passage is comforting and, at the same time, confronting. The Savior begins by encouraging this church for being faithful to doctrine and right teaching. Yet, Christ also chides the believers in Ephesus for leaving their first love. He calls them to repent and return to Christ in love and promises that failure to do so would mean losing their light and influence.

This message teaches us the importance of love for Jesus. Christians can believe the right doctrines and teach the right things and still be off base when that teaching is not born out of a heart of love for Jesus. The first commandment is to love God with all we have. (Matthew 22:27-40) Our love for others will never be what it should be without the love of God being supreme in our lives. Love must proceed ministry so that ministry will be effective and fruitful.

Let us commit to loving Christ firstly, dear Christian. Love makes all the difference. I leave you with this blessing from the Apostle Paul—“grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.” (Ephesians 6:24)

Tony French