Day 5

Restoring First Love for God



Revelation 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

Through their sixty years of marriage, Raymond and Mae lived a simple life in the foothills of East Tennessee. Their life weathered a world war apart, fighting for survival, while Mae patiently waited not knowing if Raymond was alive or dead. The young soldier walked home after three years at war to find his bride sweeping the porch. Mae said she felt like someone was just “a-starin’ at me. I turned around and yelled ‘law-me. That thar is Raymond! I dropped that broom and went arunnin!’”

Though I'm sure not perfect, theirs was a first love kind of love. It seemed unique and selective. The grace God feels for us is that kind of love. It is exclusive and fierce (1 John 3:1). Knowing that makes me wish my love for Him always felt the way He feels toward me. I admit there are times when other passions rival my love for God (Revelation 2:4).

Those things that rival our first love take us away from trusting Him to looking to ourselves. It is in those times we try to fix something we think needs to be fixed. We feel like something is missing with a big hole in our heart. So, we go to that something to fill what we think is missing. And before we know it, we not only feel empty, but now far, far away from God.

When that happens, God intervenes with kindness to move us back by repentance (Romans 2:4; Revelation 2:5). We question what that looks like, though. “Does it mean I just need to keep trying? Should I start doing something different? Do I need to pray about it?” But we find they just don’t do the trick.

Instead, we learn the more we try to do things differently, the more we realize nothing changes. So, we start searching. We try to do things again that good Christians do. But nothing changes because we realize changing behaviors does not change our heart. That place we need to get back to is not about what we used to do, but in Whom we trusted.  

It is in His love for us that we can find again our love for Him; not by doing something different as much as turning toward Him to do what we cannot do on our own (Luke 3:8; Acts 20:21; 1 John 4:19). 

So, we don’t lose heart. Our love for God can burn again. It is a passionate love that can still be distracted. But it is also a love that can be restored not because we want it or will it, but by looking to the reservoir of His love to fill us to overflowing to love again with passionate love (1 John 4:19). No matter how this day goes, live it knowing we are loved by God, and it is from the overflow of His love that restores our devotion when we’ve lost the fervor of our first love.

 Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for the blessing of repentance. Thank you for never giving up on me when I’ve drifted from my passionate love for you. You lead me back like a Shepherd leads a wandering sheep. Today I may be tempted. May I remember your faithfulness to me in those moments to protect me from myself. May I remember how much you love me so I can love you with an undistracted love. Amen.

Click this link to find out more about the influence of grace from my new book "Living Under the Influence: How Grace Sets Us Free from the Performance Mindset." Click this link to visit my author's website.



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