I’m sorry to have to admit that Sunday’s sermon was so boring I had to find things to keep me awake. Three things came to me and I made notes about them, one of which I already discussed (the nature of our relationship with God). We use love in a rather careless manner in our everyday lives; even in church we use love in a rather unthinking manner. As I have been married I have tried hard to never tell my wife I love her without giving her plenty of examples of my love first; I never want to be accused of only saying I love her but not actually love her. The preacher started every prayer with "God I love you … " and that made me start to think on this subject (shame on me for getting distracted in prayer so soon!).
As I pondered the use of "I love you" I came to a conclusion I hope I will be able to defend: the phrase "I love you" is (only?) a testimony. When I consider the biblical evidence for God’s love I don’t find hundreds of references of God speaking from the clouds, "I love you … " instead I find Him acting, working, disciplining (curious no?), and instructing His children. On occasion we are reminded of God loving us, but it is rare indeed to "hear" Him say so in Scripture. The same applies to marriage and families. Only hearing from my parents that they love me without actions did no good. Only telling my wife I love her but not doing anything for her does less than no good. When I perform loving acts (like cleaning the house, baking special goodies, getting flowers, making/buying cards, giving gifts, et cetera) people in my life feel loved, and when I tell them I love them they not only accept it, they already know it.
The funny thing about love, you don’t need to tell someone you love them if you really do. I know my wife loves me, I know my parents love me, I know God loves me, I don’t need them to tell me they do for me be believe it. In fact, the words only help to reinforce my belief (if I don’t ignore the words for the host of actions behind them). The more I pondered this the more I came to accept that "I love you" is at best a testimony of my love, not an actual action of my love. No matter how many times I say it the level of my love does not increase. It’s a means of communicating an existing … [more than a] feeling. I honestly believe it is a testimony, but a needed one.
So now I am careful to think through my use of "I love you" and make sure it serves as a testimony of my previous actions. Can I tell God I love Him without following His commands? Can I tell my wife, family, friends, I love them without doing something for them first? Do I always need to say "I love you" or should my actions speak louder than those words ever will and reserve those words for prime occasions, making them even more special?There is much to ponder about "I love you."