Three greatest words

Regardless of age, gender, race or nationality, the three greatest words in any language is, I love you. Probably the second three greatest words in any language is, I forgive you. When our savior died on the cross, he said, I love you and I forgive you.

When my dad died, the last act of his life was to tell his four children that he did not love them. It wasn’t his words that told us that, rather his secret last will and testament in which he names us all and told us that we had no part in his inheritance. What kind of a father does that? The answer sadly enough, was he was never told enough in his own life that he was loved.

The words, I love you, transcends to the soul of a person. It speaks of safety, security, belonging and a knowing of who you are. It is probably the single greatest gift a parent can give to a child. Those words teach the child how to live and that they are needed and wanted. It gives them the security, boldness, confidence and the bedrock with which to build a life.

Even with my granddaughters, I whisper to them that I have a secret I want to tell them and when they lean in to hear it, I whisper “I love you.” They giggle and say, “papa you always say that,” but when they get older, they will remember those little whispers of love. Maybe one day they will even lean down and whisper the same words to their grandchildren. KT

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