Way back in elemenrary school I learned that a verb is an action word, and a noun is a person, place or thing.
This came to mind again this week because of a painful conversation. You may remember some of my background angst. Our money was taken from us, and we've been fighting to get it back for a long time. My husband is recovering from a stroke, and now stage 4 cancer.
So someone very dear to me, a relative, called, she usually just texts. During these years of huge challenges, she has done nothing for us, as I said to her not so much as a plate of cookies. But she always says or texts "I Love You." So I said to her last week at the end of our conversation - love is a verb, all this time and no invitations for holidays or birthdays, no visits, not so much as a plate of cookies -with tears in my voice.
She has her reasons. She has made up a fantasy about our situation and refuses to hear the actual truth. In her fantasy, she is vindicated, and of course doesn't need to take any action.
My point being, often people say I love you as a throw away line. There is no love because there is no action attached. They state it as if it were a noun, the word itself being love and being sufficient. They don't need to do anything other than say the word. And the person feels good about themselves.
I wonder how helpful it might be in our relationships, if we were more accurate in our use of "love." If we stopped to think about what action could/should we take to be love, the world might be a better place.
If we used love the verb in our spiritual journey, we might get further along the path. "I love God. I love Jesus. I love..." What action do we take? Do we spend time every day in prayer and meditation, listening, communing with God? Do we read spiritual books, watch spiritual YouTube videos, attend spiritual services, etc., and prepare ourselves to give service that comes from a deep spiritual connection? Do we put a priority on it?
Let us honestly evaluate our love as a verb or our love as a noun that just sits there and doesn't lift or come with any meaning.
As Meister Eckhart said in one of his sermons:
The aim of man is not outward holiness by works, but life in God, yet this last expresses itself in works of love.