First Love Fire
- fccreative
- Feb 17
- 8 min read
Reignite Your First Love Fire: Loving Like You Did at the Start
Revelation 2:1–7 confronts spiritual drift by naming a common yet subtle danger: losing the “first love” while maintaining impressive outward activity. The passage exposes how endurance, doctrinal vigilance, and tireless service can coexist with a cooled affection for Christ. Familiarity with past faithfulness and a growing routine reduce worship to duty, transform awe into assumption, and block the power that once moved a congregation. Scriptural illustrations — Jesus unable to work many miracles in Nazareth, Israel forgetting deliverance from Egypt, and early believers burning their occult books in Ephesus — underscore how proximity and habit can shrink wonder and surrender.
Three simple, accessible remedies arise from the text: remember, repent, and resume. Remembering functions as a spiritual tool that reactivates gratitude and trust by rehearsing God’s past faithfulness, miracles, and personal encounters. Repentance requires metanoia — a renewed mind that reframes circumstances, restores hope, and redirects effort from despair to expectancy. Resuming means returning to first works: concrete acts of worship, prayer, generosity, obedience, and sacrificial service. The argument insists that love proves itself through verbs; feelings follow faithful doing. Practical examples and historical illustrations — from Joseph’s long patience to King Edward’s costly choice, from Elijah’s persistence to everyday marriage dynamics — demonstrate that action, not mere emotion, restores affection.
A clear, measurable challenge follows: commit to intentional practices for a season (thirty days suggested) — consistent prayer, presence in worship, sacrificial giving, serving, and renewed pursuit of loved ones — and then evaluate the heart. The text promises that obedient engagement invites God’s restorative presence, revives intimacy, and brightens the candlestick of witness. The call ends in an urgent appeal to recover first love fire, moving hearts back from routine to radical devotion and inviting a renewed life marked by hope, obedience, and fervent worship.
Key Takeaways
1. Remember what God has done
Remembering functions as a deliberate spiritual discipline that reignites gratitude and trust. Rehearsing God’s past faithfulness interrupts cynicism, restores perspective, and feeds expectancy for future deliverance. Memory supplies the sparks that relight dwindling affection and reorients the heart toward worship. Make a list of concrete mercies and rehearse them until hope returns.
2. Repent means change your mind
Repentance (metanoia) flips hopeless resignation into hopeful action by changing perception, not merely confessing failure. A renewed mind sees possibilities where defeat once stood and refuses the slow erosion of passion. This cognitive shift revives persistence and alters the will to engage rather than withdraw. Embrace a new interpretation of present troubles as arenas for God’s work.
3. Do the first works again
Resuming initial practices restores the relational dynamics that birthed devotion: prayer, worship, generosity, service, and obedience. Love proves itself in repeated, humble acts rather than waiting for feelings to reappear. Intentional, sustained doing recreates the soil in which affection grows and produces spiritual fruit. Return to the disciplines that once made the heart burn.
4. Action rekindles first love fire
Emotions usually follow faithful behavior; action creates atmosphere and cultivates intimacy. Practical demonstrations of love — service, forgiveness, pursuit — reshape affections and reawaken longing. When habitual doing returns, feelings align with deeds and devotion gains momentum. Commit to disciplined acts of love and watch the inner fire respond.
Bible Study Guide
Based on the sermon summary and transcript provided, here is a Bible study discussion guide.
Bible Reading
Revelation 2:1-7 (ESV)
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”
Observation questions
According to Revelation 2:2-3, what specific things was the church in Ephesus doing correctly? What did Jesus commend them for?
What is the one thing Jesus holds against this church, despite all their good works and doctrinal vigilance (Revelation 2:4)?
What three specific instructions does Jesus give to the church to correct their condition (Revelation 2:5)?
The sermon described spiritual drift as a "slow fade" that happens gradually, not dramatically . What are some of the outward signs of a church or person that is busy but has a cooled affection for Christ?
Interpretation questions
How can impressive outward activity—like endurance, hard work, and defending sound doctrine—coexist with a heart that has lost its first love? What does this reveal about the nature of spiritual life?
Jesus instructs the church to "remember," "repent," and "do the first works." Why is the order of these commands significant? How does each step lead to the next in the process of rekindling love?
The sermon stated that "love proves itself through verbs; feelings follow faithful doing". How does this redefine our cultural understanding of love as primarily a feeling or emotion?
What is the connection between losing first love and the ultimate consequence of having your lampstand removed (Revelation 2:5)? What does the lampstand represent, and why is its removal such a serious warning?
Application questions
"Remembering functions as a deliberate spiritual discipline that reignites gratitude and trust" . What are one or two specific, concrete mercies God has shown you in your past? How could taking time this week to deliberately remember and thank Him for them change your perspective today?
Repentance (metanoia) involves "a renewed mind that reframes circumstances, restores hope, and redirects effort from despair to expectancy" . Is there a current situation where you are feeling hopeless or resigned? How could choosing to see it as an arena for God’s work instead of a reason to withdraw change your next step?
The call is to "return to the first works: concrete acts of worship, prayer, generosity, obedience, and sacrificial service". Which one of these "first works" has become routine or mechanical for you? What is one specific, intentional act you can do this week in that area, not out of duty, but as an act of love?
"Action rekindles first love fire; emotions usually follow faithful behavior". If you applied this principle to a key human relationship (spouse, family, friend), what is one faithful, loving action you could take this week, regardless of how you feel?
The challenge was given to commit to intentional practices for thirty days—consistent prayer, presence in worship, sacrificial giving, and serving. Which of these areas feels most difficult for you to engage in right now? What would it look like to take the first small step of obedience in that area for just one day?
Familiarity can cause us to reduce God, taking His grace for granted and seeing prayer as mechanical. When you think about God or talk to Him in prayer, what words or descriptions do you most commonly use? How could intentionally using different, more awe-filled names for God this week combat familiarity?
Devotional
Day 1: The Danger of Losing Your First Love
The outward appearance of faith can be strong while the inner fire has grown cold. This is a slow and gradual drift, not a sudden departure. It happens when service and routine replace passion and intimacy with God. The danger lies in becoming so familiar with His grace that we take it for granted, reducing our mighty God to something common and manageable.
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:4-5a, ESV)
Reflection: What is one routine spiritual activity in your life that has become more of a duty than a delight? What is one practical way you can approach that same activity this week with the intention of reconnecting with God’s heart?
Day 2: Reigniting the Flame Through Remembering
Memory is a powerful spiritual tool God gives us to rekindle our passion. It is not about living in the past, but about drawing fuel from the past to ignite our future. We are called to remember God’s past faithfulness, His miracles, and the initial joy of our salvation. Recalling the moments we first fell in love with Jesus can provide the spark needed to light the fire once again.
“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” (Psalm 77:11, ESV)
Reflection: When you think back to your early days as a believer, what specific memory fills you with a sense of awe and gratitude for God? How can you intentionally revisit that memory this week to stir your affection for Him?
Day 3: A Change of Perspective Through Repentance
Repentance is more than saying sorry; it is a fundamental change of mind and perspective. It shifts our focus from what is wrong and hopeless to what is good and possible with God. This change in thinking is crucial because where our focus goes, our spiritual power flows. Choosing to see God’s goodness and faithfulness, even in difficult circumstances, rekindles hope and passion.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, ESV)
Reflection: In your current circumstances, what is one situation where you have been focusing primarily on the negative? What is one evidence of God’s goodness or faithfulness you can choose to focus on instead?
Day 4: Love is a Verb, Not a Feeling
Biblical love is defined by action, not by fleeting emotion. We often wait for a feeling to return before we act, but Jesus commands us to act in love so that the feeling can follow. Love is a choice to serve, sacrifice, and obey, just as Christ demonstrated for us on the cross. Restoring the fire requires us to resume the actions we did when our love was new and strong.
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18, ESV)
Reflection: What is one loving action you can intentionally do for your spouse or for God this week, even if you don’t initially feel like doing it?
Day 5: The Invitation to Do Your First Works
The path back to first love fire is not complicated; it is a call to simple, obedient action. We are invited to resume the practices that characterized our passionate early walk with Christ: consistent prayer, worship, giving, and fellowship. As we act in obedience, God faithfully meets us and reignites the emotional connection and power that comes from a vibrant relationship with Him.
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:5a, ESV)
Reflection: What is one “first work”—a spiritual practice you once did consistently with joy—that you feel God inviting you to resume this week? What is a specific time and place you can commit to doing it?
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