In our modern culture it has become customary to say, "Love you" rather than "I Love you", as though we are nervous of taking ownership of the obligations of love. We don’t want to seem uncaring (that is not PC these days) but we are wary of caring too much.
The way I see it, love, genuine love, is not a throw away word, not a careless verbal wave of the hand; at its heart it is a statement of intent.
When I say, "I love you", it allows someone to make demands of me that may actually be uncomfortable, may disturb the self-indulgent way I see myself and generally conduct my living. And horror of horrors, it exposes me to the possibility of being hurt by the very one I profess to love.
I am profoundly grateful that God does not profess his love for us with a throw-away line. Instead, he says: I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with my unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3
And when you couple that statement with the glorious, immortal words written from John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...." the challenge to us becomes even greater.
Love gives and gives and gives. And when it seems there is nothing more to give, it will lay down its life rather than stop loving.
