“Hun, do you love me?”, I ask, fully aware of the answer. Fully aware and certain that absolutely everything that he surrounds me with and does for me confirms it, the small things and big things alike. From the great steps of courage to the tiny decisions that include me, he reveals that I am the object of his love.
And yet I ask. I want to hear, I want to be reminded, I yearn to continuously feel it.
Maybe I’m just a girl, and us girls like being told good things. We like to hear the expressions coming out of our husband’s mouths, the lovely sound of the three words that soothe, comfort and allow us to feel loved.
Even when we know that we already are.
It’s funny, because I look at myself from the spiritual side, and I see the same thing. I am surrounded, I am engulfed by the love of my Father. He has given me more than I deserve. He has done small things and big things for me, has gifted and taken, for my good. He has reached out and offered me a way out, a life more abundant than anything I’ve ever thought of and anything I’ve ever asked for.
Yet I doubt and fret and get upset when something doesn’t go the way I planned it to go. Or when something I thought I was building comes crashing down. I get anxious while waiting, doubtful when tired.
And I fail to remember that the Creator of the Universe has already stepped down from heaven to prove those three words.
To prove that there is a love that is perfect, a love that is patient and a love that is kind. One that is never-ending, all-encompassing and all-sufficient. A love that gives and fills and changes.
And a Love that calls me to give, to fill, and to change.
I know that I don’t have to ask, “Lord, do you love me?” because I am fully aware of the answer. I just need to look up. Look at the sky. Look at the Cross. Embrace the Love and let it change me. Then, give it away so that others can find it.
Because there’s no doubt that a spouse, parent, friend or neighbor is in need of that reminder today. There is someone who’s upset, anxious, or doubtful. Someone is struggling with forgiveness, and someone is battling their fears. Someone is dreadfully lonely and desperately tired. Someone is dealing with pain and someone is dealing with bitterness.
Someone wants to hear it, wants to be reminded of it, and yearns to feel it.
Because truth is, love is still the only thing that makes the world go ‘round, the only thing that truly changes the world.
And the more we give it away, the more it spreads.
So I think that next time, instead of asking my husband if he loves me, I’ll just tell him. I’ll say those three words, I’ll mean them, and I’ll live them out.
“Let all that you do be done in love.”
1 Corinthians 16:14
