The Three Creepiest Words in the English Language?

The day my husband (then boyfriend) told me he loved for the first time is absolutely burned into my memory. He looked dashing in his perfectly fitting blue jeans, J crew dress shirt and sweater. He’d made me this unbelievable dinner at his townhouse and I remember white calla lilies on the table. We stared at each other for probably 20 minutes, dying to say what we were both thinking, but incredibly nervous at the possible outcome.

But then he said it.

Those three magical words.

I love you.

I thought I would die.

Months of long distance phone calls had ended with that awkward pause—neither of us wanting to say it for the first time over the phone. We had waited until we could be face to face, and it was completely worth it. We still end every conversation the same way. I love you. Just to make sure, no matter what, those are the last words we ever say to each other.

People say those three words are the most powerful in the English language. I agree, but I also know the importance of the source. When my husband tells me he love me, I treasure it. When an acquaintance tells me they love me because I had an extra ticket to a concert they were dying to go to, I giggle. When a complete stranger on the street tells me he loves me, I’m digging in my bag for pepper spray.

Actually I didn’t have my pepper spray this morning. I wished I’d had bear mace.

A random creepo outside my building this morning told me over and over how he loved me. I tried to act nonchalant—confident, even—but the truth was, I was freaked out. I dreaded leaving work that day, knowing he watched me park. What is he was there when I got back to my car—stationed (very unfortunately) down a lonely alley.

Truth is, the guy was probably harmless, but if I learned anything today, it’s that those three magical words are not magical all the time. Instead, the more we admire the source, the more meaningful the words become.

So what does it say about me when I read the words of Zephaniah 3:17  (The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing) and really only respond something equivalent to: “That’s cool.”

I make the God of the universe sing? I should be elated! I should be over the moon! I should be forever changed! But I still struggle with insecurity, anxiety and self-centeredness.

I hear the phrase all the time “Already, but not yet.” Meaning I’m already counted as one of God’s kids but, living in a fallen world, I am still far (far, far) from holiness. Far from understanding the profundity of my right-standing before God. Far from getting what it means to be loved by God.

But what I do know is this: the more I learn about Him and the more I write his Words on my heart, the more those three words change what I think about who I am. Because, frankly, the more I think about who HE IS, the less I think about who I am.

I have yet to find anything more freeing than that.