BaCk To yOuR FiRsT LoVe

Do you remember your first love?

Can you remember the date? The time? The circumstances that led up to it? 

Do you remember what you saw? What you heard? Do you remember how it made you feel right at that moment?

I am almost positive that nearly every reader already has an image in their head. The memories are starting to flood back. They are likely thinking about and reminiscing on everything but what this blog post is actually about. Everything from a drama to a movie presentation to a t-shirt has a take on what "first love" is all about. Pick a cliche. There are plenty to choose from. 

Add this to the list: First love is not always true love. Let's start there.

I know and have known many women that felt true love was measured by how many carats were in the diamond? I know some that measured it by the abundance of gifts given and their individual and collective expense. I only know of one that felt true love was worthy of sacrificing their ultimate best for a people who might never appreciate those gifts or love the Giver back in return but still gave it anyway.

Check out this passage from Revelation 2:4 (ESV) where Paul is sharing the revelation God gave to the church of Ephesus. 

"But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."

There is context for this statement but at its core, this is a strong rebuke from God Himself stating that the people, or His church, started off loving him with a fervency that translated into effective works for Him, only to fall back, causing a direct and marked change in their relationship position. They weren't "there" like they first were. They no longer loved God the way they started off loving Him. Raise your hand if you know someone in a relationship that started off with courting, gift giving, affection public and private, and poetic words flowing on the regular and now they are struggling to find that same passion and essentially tolerate each other. I think either spouse or significant other in that relationship has some condemning words of their own.

I can't begin to imagine what it feels like for a Father to give His best gift, His only son, knowing what He would have to endure. We watch the movie depictions and turn our heads. The most graphic version I can recall was "The Passion of The Christ" and I remember my reaction. I slumped down in my chair, held my stomach, covered my keep from vomiting and shaking my head so much that I had a sore neck. It was brutal and vivid and gory and gut-wrenching. That display of brutality and cruelty was done with me in mind at a time when I couldn't care any less. I wonder how many generations before me felt the same way. I don't know any of my friends or family that will offer up their infant child in the same scenario. Sacrifices come on a daily basis in different shapes and sizes and still we balk because we don't want to lose or give or put ourselves at any semblance of a disadvantage. I'm grateful that Jesus Christ didn't think like that when the centurions came to arrest Him. Or when He could have summoned a legion of angelic force while He hung on the cross but He refrained. The long and short of it is our love has limitations. Our love has stipulations. Our love has points of contention. Our love has fine print. Our love has lines that we will not cross. His love was the greatest example of unconditional.  

Do you remember your first encounter with God? Do you remember the awe and the inability to speak or reason? Do you remember the pure joy that welled up inside you and overwhelmed you? I remember mines. I remember the date. August 25th, 1996. I remember the time of day. Do you remember yours? With all of my dalliances with the Master, it was the first time I fell headlong in love with the One that waited for me while I prostituted myself for much lesser versions of Him. My life was radically changed and everything got turned upside down. I have had slip and falls and stumbles but I kept reaching for the only stable thing I've ever known: my love relationship with God Almighty. I don't understand everything. I don't get all the answers I want. I don't get all my prayers answered. I even feel like I am getting the short end sometimes but the one thing I know for sure is that He loves me and it's a love so big that I can't begin to repay the debt. There is literally nothing that I can do. It was paid for a man that didn't deserve it AT ALL and all I can do is serve and love my way on the path to redemption knowing that I will never achieve it. His shed blood paid it all for me and my children and my grandchildren and yours too.

"And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (I John 4:10 BSB)

That God gave His best because He saw you as valuable, worthy, special, unique, well-designed, and precious in His sight. He loves you fiercely and tirelessly. Loving Him back is the least we can do. This is the biblical personification of first love in the Scriptures and it is one of the most beautiful that I've ever read. I would love to hear your "first love" story if you would like to share it in the comment section. I can't wait to hear them. Thanks for reading.

"We love because He first loved us." (I John 4:19 NASB)