Fresh StartSample

Changing Loves

What were your favourite hobbies as a kid? How did you spend your Saturdays back then? While some of those activities, such as sports, may have carried over into adulthood, many of the childhood pastimes we had have changed.

You most likely don’t play with dolls or model cars anymore. It’s pretty safe to assume that you have put aside your stuffed animals and dress-up costumes. Quite simply, what you loved as a kid, you probably don’t love anymore.

But when it comes to your faith, changing your loves is a dangerous proposition. In the last book of the Bible, Jesus speaks to the church at Ephesus with glowing accolades. He commends them for persevering, enduring, and not growing weary. Things seem to be going well for them. Yet, amid their spiritual stamina, they are then harshly rebuked for forsaking "the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:3-4 NIV).

Stamina isn’t enough. Gutting it out spiritually isn’t the point.

Maintaining a loving priority for Christ is the expectation.

It is clear that you can appear like a strong Christian, with good church attendance and cleaned-up behaviour, and still have a waning love for God.

What gets in the way of you having a tender affection for Christ? Is it possible that your behavioural obedience has taken precedence over your loving enjoyment of Him?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your current relationship with Christ? What steps could you take to reinvigorate a tender affection for Him?