I Love You, Too!

Last week, Elyse started coming up to me, giving me a hug, and saying, "I love you, too."  At first, I just smiled and said, "Ahh, thank you."  Now, she has figured out that we like it, and she does it a few dozen times a day.  At first I thought it was cute because she was saying it backwards (instead of waiting for someone else to say, "I love you" for her to reply, "I love you, too.").  This morning when she said it to me, I realized something.  By adding the simple word "too", in a way, Elyse is telling me she loves me without any expectations.  She loves me without me saying it first. 

Wouldn't our society be a lot less dysfunctional if we took on this approach to loving people?  If we would try to love people without a list of expectations and requirements, our relationships would probably be a lot healthier.  We have a perfect example of this in the Bible.  God loves us before we even have the capacity to love him back.  We can come to him with all our imperfections and problems and he simply says, "I love you, too."  Most people have at least heard of John 3:16, but it really does sum up this perfect love.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

As we enter this "month of love", I hope we'll all take a moment to say to someone (maybe even someone who has never said it to us), "I LOVE YOU, TOO!"