This I Know (Three Word Wednesday)
14November 19, 2014 by Beth Hess
As I pull the door shut behind me, headed into the cold of a November dawn, I realize I am humming.
He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.
The car engine starts and with it the radio. The very first words are about His love.
I’m getting the message.
It’s one of the first songs we learn. Jesus loves me, this I know.
Years pass. We sing it still. But we sometimes don’t know it. Not really. Not deep in our souls where the knowing that we know that we know lives.
In The Art of Extreme Self-Care, author Cheryl Richardson issues a challenge. To verbalize “I Love You” to the one person you spend more time with than any other.
Yourself.
To look right in the mirror, lock eyes with your own reflection, and speak the words we are taught to use only with careful consideration and with understanding of their full weight.
And it’s just as awkward as you are imagining it to be.
But as my heart becomes more in tune with the messages of HIS love, my knower is more content. What HE loves, I shall not despair. I shall not condemn. I shall not reject.
We love because He first loved us.
Even ourselves.
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Linking with Kristin Hill Taylor and #threewordwednesday (Click the logo to the left for insights from more wonderful writers and friends.)
Just Be Beth 
Oh, how He loves us…God has used that song to speak that truth to my heart time and again. That self love isn’t always easy is it? I too am getting the message. Thanks for your words here today.
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Like any other relationship, self-love takes time to develop. But it’s worth the struggle. Thank you for your words, Mindy.
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I love and need to try this self-care method! I imagine it is quite awkward at first, eh?
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Yes, it feels strange, for sure. But I think as I stick with it, I will find it a very important practice.
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This post makes me think of the song by David Crowder Band, How He Loves Us. Have you heard it? I’m sure you would like it. It’s one of my favorites.
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I love that song, too, Heather!
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Yes! Jesus loves me THIS I KNOW!!! Such inspiring words written here, Beth! So glad I could stop by and read…and to learn the one person who needs our love that is usually last to get it – ourselves!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
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Thank you for coming by and sharing your words, Barbara. Caring for and loving ourselves can feel so foreign sometimes, but so very important.
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Oh, yes, how he loves us. And that’s reason enough to take care of ourselves. I’m so glad you linked up with Three Word Wednesday.
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I am grateful to be so welcomed in this community, Kristin. And looking forward to getting to know everyone better.
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Friend, your posts are speaking to my heart in mighty ways lately. It seems to be we have more in common than our name. So want to spend time in person with you. Hugs. xoxo
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Wouldn’t that be a great way to spend an afternoon — 2 Beths and a hot beverage. Love the way God is using us to keep blessing each other. This must be what it means to have iron sharpen iron.
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Thank you for sharing this very important part of self-care with us. God created us, so when I am putting myself down, I am talking bad about someone God deeply values and loves. I need to remember that. I am stopping by from Three Word Wednesday!
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It’s a pretty harsh reality when we look at it that way, isn’t it, Jolene? So glad you stopped by.
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