“Nevertheless, I have something against you–that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4).

Everyone in a loving relationship knows how ephemeral those feelings of love can be.

No one should expect the emotional highs to remain at fever level. We could not live that way for long.  But may we not expect the love itself to remain strong and good and vital?

Every husband and wife deals with this.  And so does God.

So, how do we awaken the dormant love that is surely there, deep within us, but has been smothered out by the daily activities of life?

Here is God’s recipe:

a) Remember what you had before.

b) Repent over losing it, and letting it slip away.

c) Repeat the things you were doing at first.

What we must not do is sit around waiting and waiting and waiting…for the emotion to return, for the inner motivation to kick in, for the want-to to be there.

Get up and start doing loving things.

What kind of loving things?  We must remember that biblically , love is almost always an action and not an emotion.  (I say almost always, leaving room for a couple of references.)

In Luke 6:27ff, to love our enemies, our Lord called on us to “do good, bless, pray, and give.” Those four actions constitute loving our enemies.

So, what would be the basic love actions of a new believer?  Answer: remember.  Think back.  You know.

–You enjoyed reading the Word.

–You loved getting together with the Lord’s people for worship and fellowship.

–You delighted in serving the Lord, in helping others in His name.

–You loved to share your faith, to help others know Him also.

So, go do it.

When Martha Bailey arrived at her destination, she realized she had lost her purse. Thinking back, she remembered that before leaving the house she had set the purse on the car, then had gone back inside for something.  Clearly, she had driven away with the purse sitting on the car.

So, she retraced her route, looking off to the sides for the fallen purse.

By the time she got home, she had not found the purse, but she did come up with an idea.

Martha went back in the house and found an old purse about the same size and weight. Then she filled it with enough “things” to give it roughly the same weight as the other purse.

She set it on the car and drove away.  Then, when the purse tumbled off the car into the street, she parked and went looking.

Soon, she found the purse.

Where did you lose your first love for the Lord Jesus Christ?  Then,  suggest you retrace your steps and repeat the process of loving Him in the first place.

After all, if we speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love, we become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

Brethren, let us love one another. For love is of God, and it’s how He wants things done. In fact, love of the brethren is the mark of a believer.

Jesus said that.