Our small group has been reading Love or Di e by Alexander Strauch, which deals with the loss of first love. In Revelation 2: 5, Jesus gives a command to the church in Ephesus to repent, and Strauch breaks this down very specifically (pgs. 21-22): "Through repentance, the church in Ephesus, would demonstrate that it accepts Christ's evaluation of its fallen condition, that it has judged itself according to Christ's Word to be sinful and deserving of divine discipline (1 Cor. 11:31-32), that it grieves over its loss of love and displeasure to Christ (2 Cor. 7:8-10), that it is turning away from sin and returning to its past life of love, that it will, by God's grace, take appropriate action (2 Cor. 7:8-12)." Repentance is not a vague acknowledgment but ownership of sin and a change of heart and mind that manifests itself in changed behavior. It's an imperative, not a suggestion.