First Love

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love." Revelation 2:4 (niv)

Do you remember your "first love" for God?

The touch God touched you when you understood His love, the Sacrificial Love Of Christ! The words of God telling you that He loved you even before the world began. The passionate compassion God showed you when you used to lie in the pits of darkness (sin). That He clothed you with the blood of Christ after you buried your old life in the Lord in baptism. The companionship you had with Him through the years of growing in His knowledge and love.

Could all this be ebbing away from your heart like the writings in the sand on a seashore?

I found, here, are twelve evidence that you may have left your "first love" for the Lord:

1. When my delight in the Lord in no longer greater than my delight in someone else, I have left my “first love”.
Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

2. When My soul does not long for times of rich fellowship in God’s word or in Prayer, I have left my “first love”.
Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

3. When my thoughts During leisure moments do not reflect upon the Lord, I have left My “first love”.
Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
Psalms 10:4, "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."

4. When I claim to be “only human,” and when I easily give in to those things which I know displease The Lord, I have left my “first love.”
Mark 12:30, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
John 15:10, "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."
John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

5. When I do not willingly and cheerfully give to Gods work or to the needs of others, I have left my “first love”.
1 John 3:17, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"

6. When I cease to treat every Christian as I would the Lord, I have left my “first love”.
Matthew 25:40, "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
John 13:34, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

7. When I view the commands of Christ as restrictions to my happiness rather than expressions of his Love, I have left my “first love.”
John 14:21, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

8. When I inwardly strive for the acclaim of this world rather than the approval of the Lord, I have left my “first love.”
1 John 2:15, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
John 15:19, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

9. When I fail to make Christ or his word known because I feel rejection, I know I have left my “first love.”
John 15:20, "Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also."

10. When I refuse to give up an activity which I know is offending a weaker brother, I k have left my, “first love.”
Romans 14:15, "If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating."

11. When I become complacent to sinful conditions around me, I have left my “first love.”
Matthew 24:12, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.."

12. When I am unable to Forgive another for offending me. I have left my “first love.”
1 John 4:20, "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."

Take the time to do personal evaluation in where you stand before God today:

1. Do I delight in someone else more then in the Lord?
2. Do I no longer long for times of fellowship in God’s Word and in prayer?
3. Do I reflect upon other things rather than upon the Lord during leisure moments?
4. Do I easily give in to those things, which I know displease the Lord?
5. Do I give grudgingly to God’s work or to the needs of other people?
6. Do I fail to treat every Christian as I would treat the Lord?
7. Do I view the commands of Christ as restrictions to my happiness rather than expressions of His love?
8. Do I inwardly strive for public acclaim more than the approval of the Lord?
9. Do I fail to witness to others because I fear embarrassment or rejection?
10. Do I offend weaker Christians because I am unwilling to give up a questionable activity?
11. Do I overlook or ignore the sinful conditions in my life?
12. Do I hold grudges against those who have offended me?