Greetings to all who may be reading my blog. My hope and prayer is that you are experiencing the Lord’s favor in your life at this time. Let me begin by asking you a simple question: How many times have you heard someone say, or you have personally used the phrase ‘I love you?’ Three simple words which hold so much value. The phrase ‘I love you’ is used in so many ways and so often today that I am afraid it is in danger of losing its true meaning; its true value.

When we were young and we thought we met our mate for life, we thought if we said those three simple words to them it would convey all we felt our heart was feeling at the time. Yet, how many of us have felt the horrible pain of being rejected by the one we spoke those 3 words to.

We tell our dear friends at church or at work that we love them but do we understand what we are really saying to them. We read the words of the Lord in Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever.”

There have been countless movies made about love, there have been countless songs written about love, and we have read countless books that are all about love, yet the sad reality is that we continue to fail seeing the love that our Lord expresses to His people displayed for all to see.

I come from a large Latin family that I know in my heart was full of love, yet I am sad to say it wasn’t displayed as much it should have been. I am sure my family isn’t the only family with this problem, and the reason I feel that is true is because I believe we have watered down what the word ‘love’ truly means.

Most Christians are able to quote John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, (Jesus Christ) that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Yet, the sad truth is that it only takes one little thing, one little incident, one little misunderstanding, a few bad words said in the heat of anger, to change our love for one another.

Jesus said in John 15:9 “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.” Jesus then goes to say in John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” Saying those 3 words ‘I love you’ to someone is the easy part and in fact it doesn’t actually cost us much at all. Following through with what those 3 words mean becomes the difficult part. We must be those who not only say to others, ‘I love you’ but that our actions also follow through with what our words have declared. You can count on the fact that we will be tested to see if we really do mean it when we say to others, ‘I love you’

February is called the ‘Love month’ because Valentines Day falls on February 14. More flowers and candy are sold and sent on Valentines Day than on another day of the year. We give beautiful cards, we have romantic dinners, and those 3 words. ‘I love you’ are said more on Valentines day than on any other day of the year, isn’t that sad. Throughout the Bible, the Lord’s love for us is referred to as an ‘unfailing love’ so shouldn’t that also be true for His people, you and me and not only on Valentines Day?

The next time you say those 3 simple words ‘I love you’ to someone, you must ask yourself; do I really mean what I am saying and am I ready to back those words up by my actions? The world will only know if the Lord’s unfailing love is really real, if they see it displayed every day of the year in the lives of His church, you and me. Let’s start becoming people who not only talk the talk but also people who live what we say!!!