We all show our love in different ways...we have our own love languages (The Five Love Languages...an interesting read to try to understand the love languages of your loved ones as well as your own). My own love language is touch. I reach out to touch people on the arm when I talk to them...it drives my daughters crazy. I know my family's as well and try to honor them. But there is no substitute for hearing those simple words, "I love you"
I knew I was loved growing up, but I didn't hear those words much. The first time I remember hearing it (and understanding that my experience was not the norm) was from a person I didn't even know well. We were in Colorado and she was struggling. I sat and just listened. I wasn't even a teenager, so there was no wise words to be sure. But as she left, she just gave me a hug and said, "I love you." I had no idea what to even do with it. I hadn't even heard it from those who "had" to love me...to hear it expressed by a near stranger as gratitude overwhelmed and it was a game changer for me. I remember being even younger and my wonderful, godly, loving (no adjectives to describe her adequately) grandmother would call and I feared getting on the phone because SHE had no problem expressing her love and I, not having heard it a lot, cringed because I knew I had to say it back to her and it sounded so odd coming out of my mouth. As I type this the realization that these people were gifts from God, His angels, to show me what I needed to learn. So I began testing it out...radical, right?! Express my love (like I was waiting that someone had to say it first, idk...)
There's no huge mystery here. ANYTIME you love, it does not come back void. Isaiah 55:11 tells us, "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." God gave us His greatest love, His Son "This is my son, whom I love, listen to Him. (Mark 9:7)" He gave us His greatest love manual, His Word in which He tells us" I have loved you with an everlasting love" Jeremiah 31:3. You may not see the rewards in this lifetime, but it is NEVER wasted. God loves us with an everlasting love...ALL OF US...He pursues and pursues and pursues...and the return is not always immediate (2 Peter 3:9). Our greatest joy should be to tell those we love, "I love you" expecting nothing in return...a gift with no strings. It's our greatest gift from God.
What struck me with David is how little I actually just tell God, "I love you" and how He probably longs to hear and feel that love as we do. Three little words with so much power. Shout it from the mountaintops, but also whisper it in His ear when you spend time with Him. Game changer.
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