I Love You

These people will wait until they're ready to walk down the aisle with someone before uttering these three words.

2 John 1:1-13

Reference:  v.5  And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning.  I ask that we love one another. (NIV Bible)

Explore:   I've noticed that there are two different views on saying the words, 'I love you.'  The people who hold the first view are those who believe that you should say the words as earlier as possible and as regularly as you can.  While people joke that these three words can scare someone off, the people who hold this first view are not deterred to say 'I love you' as soon as they can.  These type of people make up the couples that commit to saying 'I love you' to each other every single day, no matter what happens.  On the other hand, you have the second view which is to only say 'I love you' if you really, really mean it.  These people will wait until they're ready to walk down the aisle with someone before uttering these three words.  And if they are frustrated with someone then they wont say that they love them, even if that person has already reaffirmed their love to them.  They take the words very seriously and will refrain from saying them just as a response.  As you can see there are some extreme ways of dealing with these three powerful words.  I would say that I sit comfortably in the middle somewhere and see these words as important, I don't throw them around willy-nilly but then I also don't hold them back either.

Application:  In this very short book of 2 John the author is telling us to love one another.  He says this isn't a new command but one that we have heard from the beginning.  If you have read through 1 John (the book before this one) you will notice that he says the exact same thing.  I guess we could say that the writer of John holds more to the first view of saying 'I love you' than the second view!  But this repetition reminded me just how important it is to love other people.  It doesn't mean that we have to go around confessing our undying love for every person who walks across our paths.  I actually think when it comes to showing love that our actions speak louder than our words.  Its good to be reminded that we are commanded by God to love one another.  This isn't a new idea; it's not a contemporary issue or something that's emerged with the current culture.  This is a command that has been there from the very beginning.  We are constantly reminded to love one another because we often fail to do so.  And so these words are repeated all throughout scripture… love one another.

Prayer:  Lord, forgive us when we put ourselves first and fail to love the people around us.  Amen.

Who are the people around you that need to know that they are loved?

2 John