I Love Thee
I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee, my Lord;
I love Thee, my Savior, I love Thee, my God;
I love Thee, I love Thee, and that Thou dost know;
But how much I love Thee my actions will show.
I’m happy, I’m happy, oh, wondrous account!
My joys are immortal, I stand on the mount;
I gaze on my treasure and long to be there,
With Jesus and angels and kindred so dear.
O Jesus, my Savior, with Thee I am blessed.
My life and salvation, my joy and my rest.
Thy Name be my theme, and Thy love be my song;
Thy grace shall inspire both my heart and my tongue.
Oh, who’s like my Savior? He’s Salem’s bright King;
He smiles and He loves me and helps me to sing:
I’ll praise him, I’ll praise Him with notes loud and clear,
While rivers of pleasure my spirit shall cheer.
Since it is Valentine’s week, I felt urged to do a song about love. However, this song about love is not a mushy, romantic love song. It also is not a song about God’s love for His people. It is a song about the author’s love for the Lord. Unfortunately, I could not find an author attribution for this song – only “Anonymous.” When I first read this song, it reminded me of how a young child might tell a parent they love them. “I love you Mommy. I love you, love you, love you. You’re the best. You’re the greatest. I love you for making me cookies and cake and for Christmas presents, and for the dog, and for letting me go swimming, and …..” It’s almost a “stream of consciousness” in how kids tend to say whatever pops in their head.
This hymn is like that to me until you get to the last line of verse one. At that point, you see an “adult” has entered the room. I say an adult because the author realizes that loving words, not followed by loving actions, are not really loving words at all. They are hollow. They are meaningless. How much we love one another, and how much we love the Lord, will show in our actions. We can lavish the Lord with loving words and phrases all the time. But the Gentle Shepherd looks into our heart and says “Feed my sheep.” We can say “Lord, I love you for all the mighty things you have done.” Jesus responds, “Feed my lambs.” The call of the Christian is to love as Christ loved – with words and actions. His example of love is the greatest that has ever been displayed, but His love was not just words. God put His love into action. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Couple of comments on the lyrics:
- Thy Name be my theme – I am going to be open with you about something. There is a reason I have never put a “fish” symbol or a “Jesus” bumper sticker on my car. It is not because I am ashamed of being a Christian. It really has to do with the fact that my driving on the interstate does not always represent Christ as it should. If I am doing something in His name (like driving a car), it should change how I do things. The author talks about taking Jesus’ name as his life’s theme. Wow! What a standard to live up to! If we work in Jesus name, it requires a diligence and honesty and work ethic that should surpass all of our un-Christian co-workers. If we love in Jesus name, it requires us to give a kind word when we desire to retaliate. If we forgive in Jesus name, it requires us to forgive when people don’t deserve it, don’t ask for it, and to forgive those that may offend again. When we do things in His name, it should change every aspect of our lives.
- Thy grace shall inspire both my heart and my tongue – I really like this phrase because I think it encompasses true love. Sometimes we love with our heart, but we don’t always share those feelings verbally. It is like the father that never tells his children he loves them. He just goes to work everyday and provides for them. His children are longing to hear the words “I love you,” but he is more focused on his actions than his words. But on the other end of the spectrum, you find the person that says “I love you” all the time to everyone they meet. If you hear it once, you hear it one hundred times a day. But the words are hollow because the actions aren’t there to support the words. The author reminds us that God’s grace inspires both – our heart and our tongue. It inspires our heart to action, and our words to share love towards one another.
When you were in elementary school, did you ever receive one of those “anonymous” valentines? The ones where someone wrote something sweet and kind, but you couldn’t tell who it was from. You wander around trying to make eye contact with the other kids in class trying to figure out who sent this special note to you. (Don’t feel bad if you didn’t – I was too ornery as a kid to get those kinds of cards from anyone either). Although there is something “mysterious” and “enchanting” about an unknown admirer, they pale in comparison to someone that truly loves you openly. Secret words of love definitely do not equal words of love and affirmation from someone you know.
So my question for you today, “Is your love for God anonymous?” Would the people you live with and work with know that you truly love the Lord? Do they hear you talk about this special person in your life? Have you told others about the difference in your life since Jesus came into your heart? I pray today that we are open and bold and honest about our love for the Lord. Like the child who is excited to tell her Mommy how much she loves her.
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3