The dark side of repetition is numbness. When we hear things often enough, we cease to hear them. What should be foreground becomes background. Given time, even the profound becomes mundane.

Perhaps that’s why I was taken aback by the simple declaration eight-year-old Ava wrote recently. Scrawled on a scrap of paper were these words: “I Love Jesus—and He Loves Me.”

We pepper our prayers and praise music with the first half of Ava's message, "I love Jesus." But how often do we ponder—really contemplate—the second half of her message, "And He loves me.”

I suspect that many of us know this is “supposed” to be true, that it is biblically and theologically accurate. We believe all this in our heads. Yet, we struggle to feel it in our hearts.

If you were raised in a "performance-based" home, where doing and achieving opened the doors to acceptance and love, you might well struggle to believe, "And He loves me."

Be at rest! Christ really does love you. He says it over and over again. Remember that God chose to demonstrate or prove His love dramatically: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). What's more, 2 Timothy 2:13 assures us, "If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful." In going to the cross, He loved you with everything He had!

But back to the first half of Ava's declaration, "I love Jesus." How do we know that we DO love Jesus? Is it the words we say, or the feelings we feel?

Jesus Himself gave us the litmus test in John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” Which means, it’s not about the words we write or the songs we sing. Jesus spells love O-B-E-Y. Much obedience equals much love.

Do you love Jesus? How much?