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I Love You!

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 John 4:19-21
In the past couple of months I have noticed myself saying "I love you" to people I hardly know, or people I have known for a while but never told them that. They may think I'm nuts. I'm not. I'm just overflowing. :) God has called us to love our brothers and sisters in the Lord because HE FIRST LOVED US. His love overflows, so our love must too. It's humorous to me because this "loving" isn't something I made a conscious decision to do. It happened. All of a sudden, when I hug people, "I love you" just pops out. 
It's funny how simple this idea is when I really think about it. There is absolutely no "reason" (beyond that God wants you to do it.) This isn't a love BECAUSE you did any specific thing. Not because we have a lot in common, or I think you're neat, or because you need extra love. This is a love because you are a sibling of mine in Christ. He loves you, so I love you. 
This new grasp of love is opening my understanding to the words of Paul, (that's not a typo, as I know my verses here are from John...just a comment on most of Paul's letters) in a whole new way. That man LOVED people. Seriously.  I pray that, even as you read this, God is opening your heart to love. All your brothers and sisters. Unconditionally. And that through that love, we change the world. For it is when we look with the lens of love that we see what is in the best interest of others and where hard conversations come from. It is from love that we want to protect and strengthen and encourage others; not for our own best interest, but for theirs. Why again? Because God first loved us. And God first loved them. And then he gave us the job to love them too! 
That's my soap box. But in closing, guess what? I love you :) 

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