Those of you who have been married awhile can relate to the above. Even if your relationship has improved through the years, there was something about those early years — the excitement and thrill of first falling in love — that causes you to look back with a sigh. One of the secrets of a successful marriage is found in striving to recapture the excitement of those early years in the midst of our commitment to longevity.

That's also one of the secrets of living the Christian life. If you've been a Christian for a number of years, chances are you can look back at the time when you first "fell in love" with Christ. There was an excitement that accompanied the newness of your Christian life. But, the newness wore off, and after awhile, Christian living may have become somewhat mundane. We need to strive to recapture the excitement of those early years in the midst of our commitment to longevity.

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works ..." (Revelation 2:4-5a)

It is important that we remember and recapture that excitement of being a child of God — the feeling of being cleansed of sin, the desire to share our excitement with everyone else we know, and the intention to do everything we can to serve the One we love with all our hearts.

May you never lose that first love, but if you have, may you seek to recapture it.

 

Print this Article Send it to a Friend Heartlight encourages you to share this material with others in church bulletins, personal emails and other non-commercial uses. Please see our Usage Guidelines for more information.	Rediscovering Jesus Again for the First Time How Do I Know if I'm in Love? The First Step Thought for the Day
	ALL of Heartlight        --- ARTICLES   A Taste of Home   Caring Touch   Diary of God   Hope for Life   Hope from the Hill Country   Just for Men   Just for Women   Leading in Hope   Love, Sex & Marriage   Making Life Work   Prayer for the Nation   Single...Not Alone   Special Features   Timely Truths   Together in His Grace   Two Minute Meditations        --- DEVOTIONALS   Charles Spurgeon   Daily Wisdom   My Utmost for His Highest   Praying with Paul   Quotemeal   Today's Verse   What Jesus Did

© 2004 Alan Smith. Used by permission. This devotional was reprinted from Thought for the Day.

Title: "Return to Your First Love"
Author: Alan Smith
Publication Date: October 29, 2004