He loves me ... He loves me not ...
That’s the question most young girls want answered. (Women too!)
I remember many summers as a young girl picking daisies along the roadside. I'd walk as I pulled the petals from the flower stating "he loves me" and then "he loves me not" removing the petals one by one with the great hope that when I got to the last petal it would be on “he loves me”.
I'm not sure if this was a popular thing to do all over the world, but it was definitely the thing to do in the country where I grew up in Shirley, Missouri, if you wanted to find out if someone special might love you.
It seems like a silly thing to do now that I look back because if the last petal ended on “he loves me not” - I’d just grab another daisy and continue pulling petals until I got the answer that I wanted - "he loves me".
Then I would be happy and content believing the flower confirmed the love I hoped for from my crush at the time.
As I've gone through life a ways, I have to say that I thought many different people loved me. I'm sure some truly did and I'm sure some did not.
How do I really know?
Well, many said, "I love you" and I believed their words and later realized that they were just words.
Some have found themselves completely crushed by putting too much trust in the words of another person. Actually, we want to be loved in such a way that we are never let down by the one we love. But that's not even possible. We will let others down and others will disappoint us or break our hearts because we believe their words that don't measure up to their actions.
But I must say, I know someone who LOVES me and He proved it with His words and His actions.
He loves me when I'm at my worst. He loves me when I'm at my best. He loves me when I'm unlovable to everyone else. I believe Him.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
I know I can trust His words. I know I trust His actions. I believe Him.
I know He loves me.
(I hope you do, too!)