And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold (Matthew 24:12).
The same Greek word, agape, is used to describe God’s love for the world (John 3:16) and speaks of God’s unconditional love in giving Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for all humanity’s sins so that whoever believes in Jesus Christ would not perish in the lake of fire, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Jesus also told His disciple to agape one another:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)
The Apostle Paul mentioned agape as the first fruit of the Holy Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Apostle John put it this way:
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:10-11)
If the love of many followers of Jesus Christ grows cold, it means that they are no longer obeying His commandment and abiding in the light. Since love endures all things, if love grows cold, it will be harder to endure to the end.
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Agape love is one of the ingredients that will help us endure all things, including the difficult times that are coming. If agape love waxes cold during this period, it is not surprising that believers will find it more difficult to endure, thus leading to more people falling away as Jesus and Paul indicated.