It Starts Small

Jesus commended the Church at Ephesus for having doctrinal integrity and perseverance in the face of adversity and adversaries of the gospel. Then Jesus reveals in verse 4, that the church was lacking. The church had abandoned the love that characterized its early history. It was a devoted church, but it was not a devotion to the Lord.

What would a marriage be like if a wife preformed all the duties of a wife but did not love her husband or a husband provided and did all his duties but had no love for his wife? The marriage could be spoken of as cold. On the other hand, what if the opposite was true? Would then the marriage be considered warm?

The church’s love for Jesus had grown cold and all that had remained was becoming slaves to obedience in rules and doctrines. Sound doctrine and service is important, but they need to be grounded in a deep love for Jesus.

Are you cold today?

In verse 5, Jesus gives a twofold command to the church at Ephesus: remember and repent. He calls upon the church to remember the love from which they have fallen. Their commitment to truth was a good thing, but unless it is motivated by love, their commitment was not pleasing to God.

The New Testament places priority on the love for the Lord. Jesus teaches this:

³⁷ The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 10:37

Jesus taught that our love for Him must exceed our love for our closest relatives.

³² I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. ³³ But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife— ³⁴ and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.

1 Corinthians 7:32-25

Paul teaches us that our love for the Lord should be more than the love for our spouse.

³ And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:3

Paul declared that even voluntarily dying as a martyr amounts to nothing if love is absent.

So what do we do when we have fallen away from our first love?

Jesus commanded the church at Ephesus to repent.

We need to reverse our spiritual decline and serve Him as we did when we first gave our lives to Him.

Jesus says, failing to do so will cost us dearly. The church could not continue to go on as a witness for Jesus.

Thoughts to Ponder:

Have you forgotten your first love?

Is reading the Word of God, praying, and serving just become a ritual in your life?

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Further reading on Love: See the Pursuit of Love Blog Series!