I Love You

You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert. I have seen your power and your glory in the place of worship. You love means more than life to me, and I praise you. – Psalm 63:1-3

“I love you.” We think of our first grade school crush. We demonstrate it by punching her or pulling her pony tail if we’re male. If we’re female, we ignore him or call him names.

“I love you,” we tell our lover as we show them the ring. In our search for their hearts we seek first their hands then their lips.

“I love you,” we tell our spouse. But it has become a different thing now. It is more mature, calmer. It is dedicated to the long-haul. We show our love by working and bringing home a paycheck; by helping with the chores and by putting up with each other’s mood swings.

“I love you,” we say to our children and then prove it by feeding them, clothing them, teaching them a way of life and playing with them.

“I love you,” we tell our parents. And we demonstrate our love by caring for them in their old age. We gently remind them of their appointments and pills; we bring the kids to them to enjoy while warning the kids, “be gentle!”

“I love you,” said our heavenly Father, and demonstrated His love by creating light, land, water, dolphins and dogs.

“I love you,” Jesus said and shed His deity to become a mortal man. He exchanged immortality for mortality; Lordship for servanthood; glory for poverty; power for service. And then He died…for us.

“I love you,” the Holy Spirit whispered and raised the dead body of Christ from the cold tomb. The Spirit reentered the flesh of the Messiah and enabled Him to overcome Death. He then entered the spirits of those who believed and granted them the power to become the sons of God.

“I love you,” we now say to the world. We exult in our passion for life. We yearn to demonstrate our inner state to all of humanity. And so we begin…

• we remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly
• we free those who are abused,
• we share our food with everyone who is hungry,
• we share our homes with the poor and homeless,
• we give clothes to those in need,
• we care for our families,
• we remain steadfastly honest and kind,
• we rebuild those houses left in ruins for years,
• we become known as builders and repairers,
• we keep ourselves pure and spotless,
• we help needy orphans and widows,
• we see that justice is done,
• we let mercy be our first concern,
• we overcome evil with good,
• we humbly obey our God.