This post is going to be a little different than most. This is a little more personal.
I am starting to go through the book of Revelations in the Bible during my quiet times in the morning. Before you write off this post completely, whether you believe in the Bible or have a personal relationship with Christ or not, I found this so applicable in many areas, and you may as well. I couldn’t help but to pause and really meditate on a few verses I came across.
4 “However, I have this against you: You have forgotten your first love. 5 Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first.” (Revelations 2:4-5)
It got me asking myself, have I forgotten my first love? In so many areas… sadly, I feel like the question is yes. This world screams at us for constant attention, it tells us we have to do this and this and that. It tells us that when you have free time, go busy yourself some more. It tells you that only your grades, your career, your acclamations are what is important. That once you’ve reached one height, that you are now only at the bottom of another mountain to climb. And sometimes, when we begin to give in to the world’s screams, that constant voice that surrounds us in our daily lives, we neglect those that deserve our love the most. Sometimes, those we once showed unconditional, constant love for, we put on the side burner, only under the assumption that they know we still love them. That we don’t have to show it, that we don’t have to put our energy or our time into them. That we don’t have to do all those “little things” that we used to in order to illustrate our love. And slowly, our love begins to fade. We wonder why we don’t “feel it”.
This was God telling a specific church that they had forgotten their first love. No, they were not some wicked church that had fallen off the deep end. God even commended them in the prior verses, saying “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance…”. But he then continued on with that hard to swallow statement,
“You have forgotten your first love”
He cried out for them to remember the past, to remember how they used to act, and to return to those ways.
This was very hard for me to read even though I’ve come across it before. When I think back of the first time I truly met Christ and fell into a love relationship with him, I had so much passion, so much vigor, and so much love. I wanted to scream to the world of his goodness. And I still do. But lately, with the chaos and busyness that all of college brings, I think sometimes I forget to show him that love: to talk to him throughout my every day, to praise him continuously, to show him just how much I appreciate all He has done for me through simple acts of love and thanks. The world fights for every minute of our attention and energy, and sometimes, I find myself giving in, as I get so stressed out and anxious about the things around me, that I start to focus more on my “to-do list”, about those things I can’t control, then to focus on my relationships of love.
Not only in my relationship with the Lord, but with some of those closest to me I feel this has affected. I feel that all those “little things” I used to do to show my love, have somewhat been put on the back burner. Those I love, have in some ways been taken for granted.
And that is not how it should be at all.
Whether you have a personal relationship with Christ or not, have you ever felt that you have “forgotten your first love” in some area of your life? Forgotten and forsaken the actions of love you use to show someone close to you? This isn’t me giving you a life lesson. This is me sharing my personal life journey, and hoping that maybe you can take something from it as well. If you realize you are somewhat in a place like this, there is hope. If feeling this in your relationship with Christ, He is always forgiving and merciful, ready to pick up right where you left off, growing an even more flourishing relationship. And if you are feeling this way about someone close, it’s never too late to change. Tomorrow is a new day. A chance for a change. What are you going to do? I know some changes I need to make, and it is all going to begin with prayer. With communication. And with acts of love I have lately forsaken<3
P.S. If you want to know more about a relationship with Christ, please feel free to email me. I would absolutely love to just talk to you, even if you just have questions. FreshFitnHealthy@gmail.com 🙂