You love less than formerly
"You love less than formerly" Rev. 2:4
Is it possible to love less some one? We are told you either love or you don't love or you just like me. The author of the book of Revelation writing to Ephesus one of the persecuted communities in Asia Minor at his time writes: "I know too that you have perseverance, and have suffered for my name without growing tired. Nevertheless, I have this complaint to make: you have less love now than formerly" (Rev. 2:3-4).
In human relationships, people have felt that their partners no longer love them the way they used to love them. It could be their feeling that of inattention or less time being together.
Our love for God can also be lessened or stagnated. We may not have time for Him in our lives. This 'love less' for God can be triggered by so many factors. The first one could be our personal crisis that we are going through. Crisis can be triggered disappointments in life - dreams not fulfilled, death of loved ones, low moments (Jer 12:1, Job 10:1-2). The second factor could be that we have become tired ourselves (Mt. 26:41). We are not praying. Prayer is communion with the Creator. Like any relationship, if there is no time for each other people may drift apart. The other factor could be that we have failed to cope up with the challenges and demands of following God. We decide to leave our relationship with God (Hos. 11:1, Lk. 15:11ff). We may also lose the sense of religiosity. Religion becomes a formality where we just go to church because we have to.
To renew our love for God we have to go back on journey of initial call (Mt. 28:6). The Lord continues to ask us 'do you love me?'. We can answer like Peter: Yes Lord, you know everything and you know that I love you (Jn. 21:15ff). These words need to be repeated everyday. A certain lady told me, Father Kunda, now matter how many years I have stayed with my husband, I want to hear those words every time: Yes I love you honey. To say these words to our Lord, is continuously accepting our love from God because our love for God is actually just a response to God's love. It is God who loved us first (1 Jn. 4:7-21). Our newal for God's love should come from our acceptance that God is always for us even in critical moments (Rom 8:31, Ps. 124).
Is it possible to love less some one? We are told you either love or you don't love or you just like me. The author of the book of Revelation writing to Ephesus one of the persecuted communities in Asia Minor at his time writes: "I know too that you have perseverance, and have suffered for my name without growing tired. Nevertheless, I have this complaint to make: you have less love now than formerly" (Rev. 2:3-4).
In human relationships, people have felt that their partners no longer love them the way they used to love them. It could be their feeling that of inattention or less time being together.
Our love for God can also be lessened or stagnated. We may not have time for Him in our lives. This 'love less' for God can be triggered by so many factors. The first one could be our personal crisis that we are going through. Crisis can be triggered disappointments in life - dreams not fulfilled, death of loved ones, low moments (Jer 12:1, Job 10:1-2). The second factor could be that we have become tired ourselves (Mt. 26:41). We are not praying. Prayer is communion with the Creator. Like any relationship, if there is no time for each other people may drift apart. The other factor could be that we have failed to cope up with the challenges and demands of following God. We decide to leave our relationship with God (Hos. 11:1, Lk. 15:11ff). We may also lose the sense of religiosity. Religion becomes a formality where we just go to church because we have to.
To renew our love for God we have to go back on journey of initial call (Mt. 28:6). The Lord continues to ask us 'do you love me?'. We can answer like Peter: Yes Lord, you know everything and you know that I love you (Jn. 21:15ff). These words need to be repeated everyday. A certain lady told me, Father Kunda, now matter how many years I have stayed with my husband, I want to hear those words every time: Yes I love you honey. To say these words to our Lord, is continuously accepting our love from God because our love for God is actually just a response to God's love. It is God who loved us first (1 Jn. 4:7-21). Our newal for God's love should come from our acceptance that God is always for us even in critical moments (Rom 8:31, Ps. 124).
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