First Love

How is your relationship with God? Ron Hughes points out that we may lose our first love for Jesus if we do not understand God’s love.

Intimacy is a Given

In our human relationships we seem to accept the deterioration of intimacy as a given. Parents and children become estranged; spouses grow apart; friendships fade; it’s part of life. We’re all individuals and as we grow personally, sometimes we outgrow our relationships. It is so much a part of our lives that we seem to accept it as inevitable and, hence, normal.

 Love Never Fails

It is ironic that we short‑lived mortals have this view while the eternal God of love indicates that “Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8) You’d think that it would be easier to sustain love undiminished over 20, 30, 50, 75 years than throughout eternity.

Left Your First Love

Apparently, God is offended by our fickle love. Check out various translations of Revelation 2:4. You’ll find words like this: you have left your first love; you have forsaken your first love; you walked away from your first love; you have abandoned the love you had at first; you no longer love Me as you did at first. No matter how it is stated, we feel the pain in the heart of the One making the charge. And it is expressed as a charge: “I have this against you that you have left your first love.”

Is Mature Love Equal to First Love?

We console, and perhaps excuse, ourselves with the thought that as love matures, it takes on a different character. The giddy passionate love of youth should be replaced by something more staid, dignified, and “grown‑up.” Surely, though, the maturing of love, is a greater, grander thing, not an atrophied shadow of its former self. Mature love is more not less.

God’s Love is About the Object of His Love

God’s love is not showy and dramatic. You never get the impression that God’s love is about love itself. It is always about the object of His love. He gave Himself for us. God’s love is humble.

Sometimes we are rude and self‑seeking, even in love. God’s love isn’t like that. It respects its object. It doesn’t possess in a way that overwhelms our personhood or identity. God’s love is not self‑seeking.

What passes for love between people can be selfishly motivated. God’s love reaches out for the benefit of the other. While it acknowledges our sin, it deals with that sin so that it can draw us in to a restored relationship. God’s love has nothing to apologize for. It is pure.

What is Real Love Like?

What is real love like ‑ God’s love? ‑ It’s written down for us in 1 Corinthians 13:4‑7:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Have you lost your first love? How can you rediscover it? We would to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.