Our First Love

When was the last time you remembered your salvation?

Not merely read your Bible or attended a church service—but truly paused to remember how God saved your life.

We often reminisce about "the good times": vacations, memories, and pivotal moments that changed everything. We naturally remember the moments that impacted us. A few days ago, I watched the documentary Shipwrecked on Netflix. One of the survivors, an Italian chef, shared his story of being trapped as the ship sank. He fell through a doorway as the boat tilted sideways, broke his leg, and was left helpless and alone. In the middle of his despair, a rescue team found him and saved his life.

As he recounted the story, he became emotional. Even after thirteen years, he still remembered his rescuer. He remembered the day he stared death in the face and was spared. He remembered the people who saved him from the sinking ship.

And I couldn't help but think...

How much more were we helpless in our sin?

We weren't simply struggling—we were dead in our trespasses.

We were on a sinking ship, unable to save ourselves.

Yet because of His great love, God rescued us by His grace.

How much greater is the rescue Christ accomplished for us?

Paul captures that rescue beautifully in Ephesians 2.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved-" Ephesians 2:1-5

That is our rescue story. Dead in our sin, but made alive by the grace of God through Christ!

Yet as incredible as that rescue is, we have a tendency to forget it. Perhaps the greatest danger isn't that Christ becomes less worthy of our love, but that we're prone to forget just how worthy He is.

It can be so easy to go through the motions of our faith and become calloused to the very reason we do them. We read our Bibles. We attend church. We serve. We volunteer. Yet somewhere along the way, we forget why.

That was the danger facing the church in Ephesus.

“I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Revelation 2:3-4

"You have forsaken the love you had at first."

Those words are convicting. The church wasn't rebuked for laziness or bad theology. They were working hard, persevering, and doing so many things right! But they had forgotten their first love.

I don’t know about you, but I can relate to this position, of working so hard for God, but often becoming calloused to the Gospel and the true wonder of it.

Along with this documentary, the Lord reminded me of the movie The Notebook. I know it's far from a Christian movie, but it's amazing how God can use even a secular story to point us back to Himself.

If you've never seen it, Noah and Allie fall deeply in love when they're young. Years later, Allie develops dementia and no longer remembers Noah or the life they've built together. Every single day, Noah comes to the nursing home and reads their love story from a notebook, hoping that even for a few moments she'll remember him and the love they once shared.

As I thought about that movie, I couldn't help but wonder again…

How often do we suffer from a kind of spiritual dementia?

How often do we forget our salvation?

How often do we forget the love story God has written for us?

Yet unlike Allie, we have something incredible—we have God's Word sitting right in front of us every single day, reminding us of who He is, what He has done, and the love He has lavished upon us through Christ. Every page points us back to our First Love. The very thing we're prone to forget is the very thing God has graciously written down for us to remember!

So how do we guard against forsaking our first love?

1. Remember

Remembrance is vital to the Christian life. Throughout Scripture, God continually tells His people to remember. Remember His faithfulness. Remember His covenant. Remember His works. Remember your salvation.

Why?

Because we are prone to forget.

“then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." Deuteronomy 6:12

Israel's greatest problem wasn't ignorance—it was forgetfulness. Time and time again, they forgot the very God who rescued them. And if we're honest, we often do the same.

The Christian life isn't about learning something new, it's about remembering what is already true.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits," Psalm 103:2

When we intentionally remember what Christ has rescued us from, we have no other posture but intense humility and overflowing gratitude.

2. Rehearse

You've probably heard the phrase, "Practice makes perfect." An old coach of mine used to say, "Practice makes permanent," and it has stuck with me ever since.

Perfection isn't attainable this side of heaven, but faithfulness is.

The Gospel isn't just the message that brought us to Christ—it's the message that continues to shape us into His likeness every day. As we rehearse it, the Lord renews our minds, reshapes our hearts, and reminds us of our first love.

Like an athlete trains until movements become muscle memory, we are called to rehearse the Gospel to ourselves over and over again.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8

Notice He didn't simply say to read it.

Speak it.

Meditate on it.

Rehearse it.

We don't drift toward Jesus—we are prone to drift away from Him. Remaining close to Christ requires intentionality!

The more we meditate on His Word, the more natural it becomes. Eventually, the truths of the Gospel aren't just ideas we know, they become the very streams running through our bones. Faith grows as we continually hear and rehearse the good news of Christ!

3. Respond

Hebrews 12:28 is the heartbeat of Reverent Awe.

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe," Hebrews 12:28

Remembering our first love means remembering what Christ has done for us. He rescued us when we couldn't rescue ourselves. He gave us an unshakable Kingdom!

And remembering always produces a response: a response of gratitude, a response of worship, and a response of reverence and awe.

Jesus Himself said:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15

Love produces obedience. Obedience isn't the root of our love for Christ; it's the fruit of it.

We don't obey God so that He will love us. We obey because we remember that He already has.

That awe changes the way we live. It causes us to care about what God cares about, to live on mission, and to fix our eyes on heavenly things rather than earthly ones.

I'm so thankful God included Revelation 2 in His Word. It reminds us that we aren't alone in our tendency to drift. But it doesn't merely expose our wandering—it lovingly calls us back to Christ!

Back to our first love.

Friend, don't forget your love story with God. Remember where He found you. Remember what He rescued you from. Remember what He purchased for you. Remember whose you are.

Because the more clearly we remember our Savior, the more deeply we'll love Him!

Don't lose your wonder. Don't drift from your first love.

He rescued you from a far greater shipwreck than you could ever imagine—not because of anything you could have done, but because of His great love and mercy!

And every single day, He invites you back to remember the love story He has written through Christ.

"Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things." 2 Peter 1:12-15

May we remember our first love together, friend!

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