I SAY STIR UP THE FIRE SO TO SPEAK.. AND STIR UP THE GIFT WITHIN, BELIEVER
When Ministry Continues, but Love Grows Cold
“Fan into flame the gift of God.”
2 Timothy 1:6
There is a sobering possibility in the Christian life: the calendar can remain full while the heart becomes empty.
Church services continue.
The music still plays.
The lights still come on.
The meetings remain scheduled.
The programs continue.
The workers keep serving.
The preaching continues.
The crowd may even grow.
And yet, somewhere beneath all the activity, the fire of devotion to Christ can begin to diminish.
A church can become remarkably busy while becoming spiritually cold.
That is one of the warnings of Christ's message to the church at Ephesus.
Jesus did not condemn Ephesus because they were lazy, doctrinally careless, or indifferent toward false teaching. Quite the opposite. He knew their works, labor, endurance, doctrinal discernment, and perseverance. They had endured hardship for His name and had not quit.
By outward appearances, Ephesus looked strong.
But Jesus saw beneath the surface.
They were doing much for Him while loving Him less.
That is a warning every church, every ministry, every pastor, every teacher, every worshiper, and every individual Christian should take seriously.
The danger of religious momentum
A ministry can develop momentum of its own.
Once enough programs are established, enough volunteers recruited, enough calendars filled, and enough traditions maintained, activity can continue almost automatically.
But spiritual life does not run on machinery.
A church does not remain spiritually alive merely because it remains organizationally active.
A congregation can have excellent buildings, polished services, gifted musicians, capable leaders, impressive programs, sound statements of faith, and crowded calendars while gradually losing the warmth of personal devotion to Jesus.
The issue is not that programs are inherently wrong.
The issue is what gives them life.
We can work for Christ without walking closely with Christ.
We can speak about prayer without actually praying.
We can teach the Bible without trembling before the God who gave it.
We can sing about surrender while secretly protecting our own will.
We can defend sound doctrine while allowing our love to grow cold.
We can become so occupied with the work of the Lord that we neglect the Lord of the work.
?
Jesus has eyes that appear as fire. He said,
“Abide in me, and I in you.”
John 15:4
And then He made the matter unmistakably clear:
“Apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
The Christian life was never designed to be lived on yesterday's spiritual fire.
Ephesus: a church that had not quit, but had drifted
Christ's words to Ephesus are especially searching because He begins by acknowledging what they were doing right.
They worked.
They endured.
They resisted evil.
They tested false teachers.
They persevered under difficulty.
They refused to quit.
Yet Jesus said:
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Revelation 2:4
Notice the tragedy.
Their hands were still busy, but their hearts had moved.
They had not necessarily abandoned Christian activity. They had abandoned their first love.
This is why spiritual maturity cannot be measured merely by how much we accomplish.
God examines the heart.
Paul made the same principle unmistakable when he taught that even extraordinary spiritual accomplishments are empty without love. See 1 Corinthians 13:1–3.
The question is therefore not merely:
“What are we doing?”
It is:
“Why are we doing it?”
And deeper still:
“Do we still love Jesus?”
Labor is not a substitute for love
Imagine a husband who faithfully pays the bills, maintains the house, goes to work every day, and fulfills every outward responsibility of marriage, yet gradually stops talking with his wife, listening to her, spending time with her, or showing affection toward her.
Technically, he may still be performing his responsibilities.
Relationally, something precious has disappeared.
The problem is not that he is doing too much.
The problem is that the relationship has been replaced by mere religious routine.
Something similar can happen spiritually.
We can maintain Christian routines while losing Christian affection.
We can attend church without adoring Christ.
We can read Scripture without allowing Scripture to search us.
We can serve others without loving them.
We can defend truth without displaying the character of the One who is Truth.
We can preach Christ while neglecting communion with Christ.
The danger is not always abandoning Christianity. Sometimes the danger is continuing Christianity without continuing intimacy with Christ.
Jesus did not tell Ephesus simply to work harder
This is one of the most beautiful things about Revelation 2.
Jesus did not respond by saying, “Your calendar is too empty. Add another program.”
He did not tell them to recruit more volunteers.
He did not tell them to create another ministry.
He gave them three commands:
Remember.
Repent.
Return.
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.”
Revelation 2:5
That is the pathway back.
* Remember
Look backward honestly.
Remember what it was like when Christ first captured your heart.
Remember when prayer was not merely an obligation but a privilege.
Remember when opening the Bible was not simply preparation for teaching but an opportunity to hear from God.
Remember when worship was not performance but wonder.
Remember when lost people were not statistics but souls.
Remember when sin grieved you because it grieved your Savior.
Remember when you were grateful simply to belong to Jesus.
* Repent
Remembering alone is insufficient.
Nostalgia cannot restore spiritual vitality.
Jesus says, repent.
Repentance means turning back toward God rather than merely feeling bad about having drifted.
The answer to spiritual coldness is not emotional manipulation.
It is not manufactured excitement.
It is not louder music.
It is not another conference.
It is not another program.
It is returning to Christ.
* Repeat
..the first works after you got saved. Jesus says to do the works you did at first.
Return to the simple things.
Pray.
Open the Word.
Worship.
Obey.
Confess sin.
Love people.
Share the gospel.
Serve sacrificially.
Walk with Christ.
Do the things that flow naturally from genuine love for Him.
Not to earn His love.
Because we have already been loved by Him.
“Stir up the gift” does not mean manufacture spiritual power
Paul's instruction to Timothy is remarkably appropriate:
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.”
2 Timothy 1:6
Paul does not tell Timothy to manufacture something God never gave him.
He tells him to fan into flame what God had already entrusted to him.
The picture is powerful.
A fire can begin with a genuine flame and yet require attention if it is going to burn brightly.
Likewise, believers are called to exercise the gifts God has entrusted to them, walk in obedience, cultivate spiritual disciplines, and remain dependent upon the Holy Spirit.
Paul immediately connects this calling with power, love, and self-control.
So the answer is not emotional hype.
It is not human energy masquerading as spiritual power.
It is faithful dependence upon God.
Activity can never replace abiding
Jesus gives us the clearest picture.
A branch does not produce fruit by trying harder to be a branch.
It bears fruit by remaining connected to the vine.
Christ said:
“I am the vine; you are the branches.”
John 15:5
The order matters.
Abiding produces fruit.
Not the other way around.
We do not work ourselves into spiritual life.
We receive life from Christ, abide in Christ, and then serve Christ from that life.
That is why a Christian can become exhausted from doing good while simultaneously becoming spiritually malnourished.
The answer is not necessarily less service.
Sometimes the answer is deeper communion with Jesus from which service flows.
When prayer becomes mechanical
One of the earliest warning signs of spiritual cooling is often the quiet disappearance of earnest prayer.
Not necessarily the disappearance of prayer meetings.
Not necessarily the disappearance of public prayers.
But the disappearance of private communion with God.
The room may still be full on Wednesday night while the prayer closet sits empty.
And that should sober us.
Prayer is not merely another church activity.
Prayer is dependence.
Prayer says:
“Lord, I cannot do this without You.”
That is why Jesus' words in John 15 are so searching.
“Apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
The church does not need merely more activity.
The church needs deeper dependence upon Christ.
When preaching loses its urgency
Biblical preaching must never become merely religious information.
The preacher is handling eternal truth.
Sin is real.
Judgment is real.
Grace is real.
Hell is real.
Heaven is real.
Christ is risen.
The gospel is true.
Eternity is approaching.
Therefore the Word of God should be handled with reverence, clarity, conviction, compassion, and urgency.
But there is another danger.
A preacher can preach correct doctrine while his own heart becomes distant from the God he proclaims.
The answer is not abandoning sound doctrine for emotionalism.
We need both truth and love.
Truth without love can become cold orthodoxy.
Love without truth can become sentimental compromise.
Biblical Christianity refuses both errors.
When souls stop mattering
Perhaps the most disturbing symptom of spiritual cooling is when lost people cease to burden us.
When the church becomes more concerned about maintaining its schedule than reaching its community, something has gone wrong.
When we become more excited about attendance numbers than eternal destinies, something has gone wrong.
When we can discuss church preferences for hours but cannot pray earnestly for someone who does not know Christ, something has gone wrong.
When we are passionate about winning arguments but indifferent toward winning people to Jesus, something has gone wrong.
The gospel was never given merely to make Christians more comfortable.
Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
Paul could say that he endured hardship for the sake of others so that they might obtain the salvation found in Christ (2 Timothy 2:10).
The church should therefore carry both truth in its mouth and compassion in its heart.
The warning of Matthew 24:12
Jesus also gave a solemn warning concerning the end of the age:
“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”
Matthew 24:12
The context matters.
Jesus was speaking about false teachers, persecution, deception, increasing lawlessness, and the events surrounding the end of the age. He immediately follows this warning by speaking of endurance.
So we should not use this verse carelessly.
But we should hear its warning clearly:
A lawless culture can create a spiritually corrosive environment in which love grows cold.
When sin becomes normalized, holiness can become strange.
When truth becomes negotiable, conviction can weaken.
When self becomes the center, sacrificial love becomes increasingly difficult.
Paul describes a similar spiritual climate in 2 Timothy 3:1–5, where people become lovers of self and lovers of money while maintaining an outward appearance of godliness.
That is a frightening possibility:
religion on the outside, self-love on the inside.
The church does not need a new fire. It needs to tend the fire God has given.
There is something wonderfully hopeful about all of this.
Jesus did not merely expose Ephesus.
He called Ephesus back.
His rebuke contained an invitation.
Remember.
Repent.
Return.
That means spiritual decline does not have to become spiritual destiny.
A cold heart can turn again.
A distracted Christian can return.
A weary servant can seek Christ afresh.
A church can repent.
A ministry can recover its purpose.
A congregation can rediscover the wonder of the gospel.
The answer is not to manufacture yesterday's emotions.
It is to return to today's Christ.
Jesus has not changed.
His gospel has not changed.
His holiness has not changed.
His mercy has not changed.
His Word has not changed.
His invitation remains:
Come back to Me.
A sobering question for every church
If Jesus Himself walked among our churches today, what would He commend?
What would He confront?
Would He find doctrinal faithfulness?
Would He find perseverance?
Would He find sacrificial service?
Would He find biblical preaching?
Would He find prayer?
Would He find holiness?
Would He find love?
Would He find compassion for the lost?
And perhaps the most penetrating question:
Would Jesus say that we are doing many things for Him while loving Him less than we once did?
That question cannot be answered by the attendance sheet.
It cannot be answered by the size of the budget.
It cannot be answered by the number of programs.
It cannot be answered by the beauty of the worship service.
Only the heart knows.
And ultimately, Christ knows.
Barna's recent research illustrates an interesting tension: Bible engagement in America has recently increased, with weekly Bible reading reported at 42% among U.S. adults in its 2025 research, yet Barna also identified a gap between increased Bible reading and strong conviction concerning Scripture's authority.
That is worth considering.
Opening the Bible is good.
Believing the Bible is essential.
Obeying the Bible is evidence of genuine discipleship.
The goal is not merely more Bible activity.
The goal is a life transformed by the Word of God and centered upon Christ.
The fire must reach the heart before it reaches the world
A church cannot consistently call the world to repentance while refusing to examine itself.
We cannot preach revival while tolerating spiritual indifference in our own hearts.
We cannot ask God to save our neighbors while remaining unconcerned about their souls.
We cannot ask God to revive His church while resisting His work of repentance within us.
Revival begins with God, but Scripture repeatedly calls God's people to humble themselves, seek Him, turn from sin, pray, and obey.
So perhaps the prayer should begin very simply:
“Lord, begin with me.”
Stir up what has grown dormant.
Rekindle what has grown faint.
Restore what has been neglected.
Correct what has become crooked.
Cleanse what has become contaminated.
And above everything else:
Restore my love for Jesus.
Because the greatest tragedy is not that a church becomes less busy.
The greatest tragedy is that we become busy enough to forget why we are serving in the first place.
The answer is not simply:
“Do more.”
It is:
“Come nearer.”
Come back to the Word.
Come back to prayer.
Come back to worship.
Come back to obedience.
Come back to holiness.
Come back to the gospel.
Come back to compassion.
Come back to Christ.
Remember.
Repent.
Return.
Remain.
And fan the flame.
For when Christ is treasured, ministry has its proper motive.
When Christ is loved, obedience becomes worship.
When Christ is central, service becomes joyful sacrifice.
When Christ is magnified, the church becomes a light rather than merely an organization.
And when the people of God abide deeply in Christ, they are equipped to carry His gospel faithfully into a dark and needy world.
George Barna reported in 2025 that weekly Bible reading among U.S. adults had risen to 42%, while also noting a gap between increased Bible engagement and conviction about biblical authority.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Revelation 2:7
May we never be satisfied with a church that is merely busy.
May we seek to be a people who are alive in Christ, faithful to His Word, fervent in prayer, holy in conduct, compassionate toward the lost, and burning with genuine love for Jesus.
That is the fire worth tending. Do you know the Lord, or merely know of the Lord? Today, even now, you can know Him well and be used of Him.
