Read Revelation 2:4 + 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 in your personal Bible or at the link provided.
Review
1. What is Jesus’ complaint against the Ephesians?
2. What actions are described in 1 Corinthians 13?
3. What do we have without love?
Reflect
Jesus affirmed many things in the Ephesian church, but He also called them out on one thing. He said they’d abandoned the love they had at first, both for Him and each other. 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that words, knowledge, gifts, and sacrifice mean nothing if they aren’t accompanied by love. Love is what makes or breaks it all.
Just as Jesus called the Ephesians back to their first love, He’s calling us back too. Back to a time when He was greatly honored and we were full of passion for Him. For most of us, we don’t fall out of love as much as we gradually place other things above what we once loved the most. “Good” things replace what’s most important – love for God and one another.
If something has God’s spot in your life, He wants it back. He doesn’t want you just going through the motions. He wants you to remember your first love. Whatever’s taking His place in your life, open up your hands, let it go, and put God back in His rightful place.
Respond
• Would you say you love God and others like you did at first? Does the fire you once had still burn bright, or does it seem to be gone?
• What might be gradually creeping into the place of God in your life? Have you seen that impacting your love for God and other people?
• Who in your life is spurring you on toward the kind of love described in today’s verses? What accountability could you set up to keep you on track?
Pray through these questions, and write down what God is prompting you to do next. Share with a friend, and take a step to apply it.