When Love Grows Cold

A Warning From Jesus, Not a Metaphor

From the series: Will He Find Faith? — Prayer in the Last Days

_{Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®.}
^{Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.}

Jesus did not speak vaguely when He warned of the last days. He named specific pressures, specific dangers, and a specific spiritual consequence that would quietly emerge—not all at once, but gradually.

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
— Matthew 24:12 (NKJV)

This warning is not directed at the openly wicked. It is directed toward “the many”—those living through sustained lawlessness, injustice, deception, and delay. Love growing cold is not always loud. Often, it is subtle.

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How Love Grows Cold

Jesus links cold love directly to lawlessness. This does not refer only to immorality or violence. It includes the erosion of truth, the absence of accountability, and the repeated experience of injustice without resolution.

Over time, this produces spiritual fatigue, emotional numbness, withdrawal rather than compassion, and cynicism disguised as wisdom. The heart does not harden overnight. It cools.

Scripture warns that delayed justice weighs heavily on the soul:

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”
— Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV)

When lawlessness appears unchecked and righteousness unrewarded, the temptation is not always rebellion—it is discouragement.

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Offense Is the Gateway

Just before Jesus speaks of love growing cold, He gives another warning:

“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.”
— Matthew 24:10 (NKJV)

Offense is not merely emotional irritation. In Scripture, it is a stumbling block—a condition of the heart that causes a believer to trip, withdraw, or turn inward.

Offense often sounds like

• “Nothing changes.”
• “Why bother anymore?”
• “I’m tired of caring.”

This is not always rebellion. Often, it is weariness without renewal.

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Cold Love Is Not the Same as Hatred

It is important to understand what Jesus is—and is not—saying. Cold love does not always express itself as anger. More often, it expresses itself as detachment where prayer becomes sporadic, compassion becomes selective, truth is held without tenderness, and injustice is observed without intercession.

This is why Jesus emphasizes endurance:

“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
— Matthew 24:13 (NKJV)

Endurance is not passive survival. It is active faithfulness under prolonged strain.

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The Danger of Growing Discouraged in Doing Good

Paul addresses this exact temptation:

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
— Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)

Notice the condition: if we do not lose heart.

Losing heart often precedes losing love. The believer who continues to see evil prosper, truth mocked, and justice delayed may begin to protect themselves emotionally—not realizing that self-protection can quietly choke love.

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Jesus Anticipated This Pressure

Jesus did not warn His disciples so they would fear—but so they would be prepared.

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.”
— John 16:1 (NKJV)

Cold love is not inevitable. It is preventable. But prevention requires watchfulness, prayer, and intentional guarding of the heart.

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Guarding the Heart Is a Command

Scripture does not treat the heart as passive.

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
— Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

When lawlessness increases, the believer must become more intentional, not less.

Cold love does not mean truth is abandoned—but it often means mercy is withheld, prayer is reduced, and hope is restrained.

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The Role of Prayer in Preserving Love

Paul gives a quiet but powerful safeguard:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
— Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

Prayer does not excuse evil.
Prayer prevents the believer from becoming hardened by it.

Jesus Himself commands:

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”
— Matthew 26:41 (NKJV)

One of the greatest temptations in the last days is not immorality—but lovelessness born of fatigue.

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A Call to Discernment, Not Condemnation

This warning is not meant to accuse believers who feel weary. It is meant to wake them gently. Jesus did not say, “The love of many will disappear.” He said it will grow cold—implying it can be rekindled.

This requires honest self-examination, renewed prayer, remembrance of Christ’s endurance, and reorientation toward eternal hope.

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Closing Prayer

Lord, search our hearts. Where weariness has cooled our love, renew us. Guard us from offense, bitterness, and withdrawal. Teach us to endure without growing hard, to speak truth without losing mercy, and to remain faithful in love as lawlessness increases. Keep our hearts alive in You, and strengthen us to endure until the end.
Amen.