“But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:1-7, NASB)

“Oh God, deliver me from the sin of not loving you!” We should always keep this prayer in mind, lest we become mediocre in our love for God. I say this because not loving God is a sin, and loving Him with mediocrity is just as bad. Consider what Jesus said to the church in Ephesus. He said,

“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: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore 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. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’”

Doesn’t this sound like loving God with a mediocre heart is a sin? It is not as though the believers at Ephesus did not love God. They loved God, but they did not love God as they did at first. The church in Ephesus was tough and battle-hardened. They endured persecution and fought against evil men and false apostles! Yet, Christ rebuked them for falling away from their “first love,” and warned them that they were in danger of losing their lampstand. “First love” suggests that fresh, unbridled, passionate, “you are the love of my life,” “I will do anything for you” kind of love. At a certain point, however, they began to lose that excitement and passion for the things of God. They still held fast to their faith and persevered, but they did not do so with first love. You see, loving God is not about saying you love God, but about showing it through your actions. If you have “first love” for God, then you will continue to do the “first love deeds.” But if you wane in your “love” for God, then you will slowly cease from doing the deeds that say you love God.

The phrase is literally stated in Greek: “The love of you, first, you have left,” implying that Jesus Christ himself was their first love, not their passion itself. Likewise, many Christians have fallen into this sin because we love things about Christ rather than Christ himself. We love Christianity, the Bible, church traditions, and things such as these, rather than Jesus. The church in Ephesus was such a church. They did the “deeds” of loving Christianity but not the “deeds” of loving Christ.

Interestingly, while most scholars interpret the seven churches here as literal churches in Asia at that time, some believe they are symbols of the seven church ages of the last two millennia. If that is true, then the church in Ephesus would symbolize the first-century church, and the church in Laodicea would symbolize the church age we live in today. The first-century believers did have a “first love” relationship with Jesus Christ as they experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. Read Acts 2:42-47, and you will see what “first love” for Christ actually looks like in action. Then slowly the early church began to lose that pure love for Christ as lying, fighting, jealousy, hypocrisy, and false teaching crept in. Now compare that to how we, as Christians, and the church today are doing in the 21^st century. Are we loving Christ with a first love or a mediocre love? Do we love Christ or Christianity? We have a great need to return to the “first love” of Christ. We cannot even be content with loving him mediocrely. Christ considers them both a loveless marriage. It’s all out or all nothing. Now, if Jesus felt this way about the early church, would he not feel the same way about our church today? Christ’s warning ought to put the chills down our backs! “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!” Oh God, save us from the sin of not loving you!

• What do you think it means to leave your “first love?”
• Do you think it’s fair for God to take away their “lampstand” for not having “first love,” even though they were faithful in other Christian things?
• How does your church compare to the church in Ephesus?