Tell Him, "I Love You."

Every day after lunch, we have a little routine. Ellie gets on the couch with some books while I get Avi ready for her nap, and then when she's ready, we stop by the living room where Ellie sits. 

"Say, 'Nite-Nite,' Avi," I coax.

"Ni-ni!" She says in her little squeaky voice.

"Say, 'I love you, Ellie.'"

"I da-du!" Avi says.

Ellie looks up from her books, sometimes without my prompting and says, "Nite-Nite, I love you!" 

This scene has special meaning to me and melts my heart. Doesn't it do that for you too?

I want them to love each other. I want love to be what is pulsating through everything that happens in this home. I want our home to be where love is tasted, touched, seen... 

So, we take baby steps in the learning process. We practice saying it to each other. We practice showing it to each other with kindness and sharing.

And then there are those rare moments when my two-year-old, Ellie, voluntarily tells me, "I love you." 

This melts my heart more than almost all the other words she says combined.

But I know that my children only know the tip of the iceberg when it comes to love. They don't understand what real love is. 

And yet, each little baby step they are taking in learning to love and be loved means the world to me as their mom. 

I am not ashamed of the fact that they don't know very much about love. I am excited that they are learning.

And those rare moments when they point their love in my direction and know they are doing it are magical, despite the fact that they hardly know the meaning of such a word.

Why am I talking about this? 

I've been thinking about something David said in Psalm 18:1. Something I already brought up last week, but it keeps sinking deeper in my own soul, and I must talk about it again.

"I love You, Lord," he said so simply in the first part of the verse. 

I love You, Lord... Do you ever tell God that? 

Oh, child of God, you who seek His face, do you tell Him that you love Him?

As I have pondered this, I realized I'm afraid of lying to Him. He knows my heart better than I do.

It is almost as if in this moment, Jesus turns to us and asks, "Do you love Me?" 

Ashamed of all my failures, I feel like responding the way Peter did: "Lord, You know all things..." (John 21)

But then, He turns to us again and asks the same question: "Do you love Me?"

Why is it so hard to just say it? 

It is so rare to hear a Christian tell God in a prayer before others, "I love You." But maybe it's because it's just as rare that he whispers it to Him in secret.

"We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

He loves you, child of God. He loves you more than words can describe.

His love for you is what led Him to strip Himself of His own glory and become one of us. 

His love for you is what caused Him to live on earth as a man without sin yet without a beauty that would make us want Him.

His love for you is what caused Him to give His life over to the wicked one to be slain.

His love for you is what caused Him to endure to the end.

You see, He saw you in His mind's eye. He wanted you. He wasn't going to stop short of paying for your sin on that cross so you could be His.

His love for you is why the resurrected Christ sent His Spirit to live in His people: so that you would have a chance to meet Him, too. 

He went to the ends of the earth, paid the ultimate price, so that you and I could be His very own beloved bride. 

And just like any good marriage shines brightest when both spouses are loving each other, our relationship with God sparkles most when God's love for us is being reciprocated by us.

Do you love Him even a little bit, my friend? Then don't be ashamed to tell him so.

Your love grows with the saying of it.

So, say it.

Give Him the words He created you to enjoy saying: "I love You, Lord."

Utter it on your pillow as you go to sleep.

Whisper it in the night.

Say it when you see His beautiful gifts -the sunrise, a cup of coffee, a kiss from your spouse, the laughter of children, time with friends...

Whisper it to Him as the winds of His love caress you.

Declare it when the little things in life make you smile.

Shout it to Him when pain comes knocking at your door.

Insist on it when you feel rejection from those you love.

Tell Him when you can no longer hold back the tears and you run to Him for solace.

Say it in the shadows as darkness falls over the story of your life.

Affirm it when your prayers go unanswered.

Utter it as a proclamation of where your loyalty lies, whenever your loyalty is tested.

Shout it as a war-cry as the enemy assaults you.

"I love You, Lord."

He will be pleased with you choosing to love Him this way. 

He is not ashamed of the littleness of your love in comparison to His. 

Instead, He will be excited that you are learning to love Him one baby step at a time.

But know, dear child of God, that however deep your love may grow, His love is deeper still.

You can never out-love God.

He doesn't expect you to.

We only love Him because He loved us first.