The “three little words” that mean so much: “I love you”. Interestingly, they don’t occur all that often in the Bible—even though it plainly states that “God is love,” and the two great commandments to us are to love. (1 John 4:8, 16; Matthew 22:36-39)

Even if that exact phrase only appears a few times, there are a lot of places where God’s love is conveyed. A small sampling from among the dozens:

But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:8)

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. (Psalm 13:5)

The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. (John 16:27)

The Father tells Jesus He loves him: “And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11) Jesus believes it: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” (John 5:20)

We’re told about some people Jesus loved. There’s the rich young ruler who ended up dismayed by the cost of discipleship: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (Mark 10:21) Jesus was known to love Lazarus: “So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” (John 11:3) The apostle John several times refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved”.

Jesus tells his disciples (over and over) to love their enemies, to love their neighbor, to love their God, and to love one another—this last he emphasizes again and again at his last meal with them. He demands love from his followers. Yet, as far as we have recorded, he only says it to them one time: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love… My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:9-12)

Of course (as I’m sure you’ve been thinking) at that last meal Jesus conveys the enormous extent of his love for them in the next verses: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (verses 13-14)

Indeed. And Jesus would show that greatest love within hours. So, if we are showing love, is it not really necessary to say it?

In the well-known conversation Jesus has with Peter after the resurrection, the Lord three times demands, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter replies, “Yes Lord, you know I love you!” This exchange is certainly recorded for our instruction, isn’t it? Jesus demands our love, and that’s not all, he demands we declare our love. Why, if he knows our heart? Because we need to look inside, to see if it’s true. Do we love him? Saying, “I love you,” isn’t something that should be said carelessly, without thinking, without meaning it.

God’s love for us, His expectation that we return His love; Jesus’s love for us, his expectation that we return his love; the expectation that we love those who are loved by God and by Jesus. These are weighty, and they come up in hundreds of places in the Bible. Which is no surprise if God is love, and the greatest commandments—the greatest expectations of us—are love.

Good idea, then, to sit down or lie down or kneel down, clear our mind, think about what we’re saying, and say the words. “I love you.”

Love, Paul