When Faith Feels Heavy, We’ve Forgotten This

You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. Revelation 2:4-5

How would you describe your faith—is it a moral code, a spiritual worldview, or something deeper?

Ever notice how a child can go from feeling “exhausted” when there are chores to be done, but when playtime begins minutes later, they’re bursting with energy? The change isn’t a physical one—it’s a change of heart! When we love what we’re doing, energy flows. When our heart isn’t in something, we struggle.

If your faith feels like a chore, you may be missing the joy that God intended you to experience in knowing Him. Faith is meant to be wholehearted because God is after changes in the heart that bring us the joy we desperately need. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who are weary … my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). When faith feels heavy, it’s often because we’re caught in routines disconnected from love and relationship with Jesus.

God corrected a group of Jesus followers in the Bible saying: “You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! … Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:4-5).

What first brought you to want to know God? The Bible says that the only reason we love God is because He loved us first (1 John 4:19). When faith feels heavy, we’ve forgotten just how loved we are. To rekindle love for God, we need to constantly remind ourselves that He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). And that He ” … will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears” (Zephaniah 3:17 excerpted).

Today, you can remember and return to the joy of living in God’s love.