“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” — 1 John 3:18
I have a bad tendency to say the word “love” far too much. I love fall. I love tacos. I love when I wake up a few hours before my alarm knowing that I get bonus sleep. I love egg-rolls. I love my family. I love my wife. Don’t you see how I am using the same word for a wide spectrum of situations? In no way, shape, or form is the love I have for my wife the same as the love I have for bonus sleep, but that didn’t stop me from saying it.
What would happen if I said, “I love you” to her three times a day but never made time for her, texted her, took her on a date, or bought her egg-rolls? After a while, those words would completely relinquish their meaning.
Saying love and showing love are completely different. My love is vapid (empty) if it’s not backed up by action. The same is true in both relationships with people and God. We must do more than just say we care about people; we must show it. We must do more than say we love God; we must show it.
1 John 3 says, “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” This passage reveals that love is an action as much as it is an emotion. Your actions reveal your affections. God has called you to love those around you and love Him. Do your deeds display your love?