The word "love" in itself is tossed around –– I love food, I love baseball, I love naps, I love the beach and so on and so forth.

We have started to use love as a marker for how serious the relationship is. If you said those three words, man you are serious about each other. Not to mention it had to be all three words “I love you" because "love you" (or even worse love ya") is a way to send someone into the bottomless friend zone.

It is also the same with our faith. So many times in the bible we see: "God loves the world so much," "as I have loved you,” "love one another as I have loved you" and all that is absolutely wonderful, but sometimes meaningless. Meaningless in the fact that it doesn't make our relationship with God anymore serious than our relationship with pizza. I had never paid attention to the fact that I never saw the words "I love you" in the bible. Growing up, you are taught that God loves you, but with all of the obstacles that I faced this year I began asking God for proof. I was falling away from my faith with each day, and started assuming that I would never know what it was like to love God. Even worse, I assumed I would never know what it felt like to be loved by God. I started to blame God for the obstacles I was going through, and before I knew it, I didn't have a relationship left with him at all. I was simply going through the motions of living my Christian life. It wasn't until I let go of everything I held against God and opened up and said, "If you want me to forgive you, show me you love me” that I realized it. I never could have imagined God taking His time to show me His love, but over the next following weeks He did. Then I finally got the sign I had been asking for. One night I was reading my bible and out of no-where I found it: God saying, "I love you."

I've never seen those three words so simply put in the bible before. I honestly believe it was sent to me from God to show me that He does in fact love me and want a relationship with me. Finding that one verse with those three words, all beside each other, in black and white, shows how personal God wants our relationship with Him to be. He is serious about us. “I love you" not just “I have” not “I will” but I, presently with all my being, Love You.

"Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you" – Isaiah 43:4

Ever since I found this verse I can't help but feel His love. I read this verse, and I can feel my spirit burning with a new love. I never understood how people could know and feel that God loved them. This last semester God made a point to teach me how to feel His love. Ever since then I have been changed. I can finally say I feel His love. God's love is so large yet so personal. His love is a self-less love and a love that is always present. It is actually something you can feel after all, and once you do, you never want to go back.