~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

Tell me why the ivy twines 
Tell me why the stars do shine 
Tell me why the oceans blue
And then I’ll tell you why I love you
Because God made the ivy twine 
Because God made the the stars to shine
Because God made the ocean blue
Because God loves you…that’s why I love you

~  Author, unknown / Performed by Eddie Cochran  ~

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And that’s the Truth!  I love the questioning…and then the sweet response in this little song!  Y’know…”if you tell me why (the stars shine, the ivy twines, and the oceans blue) THEN I will tell you why I love you!”  And such should always and forever be our determination.  Really, love is all about love…it’s not about the other person <shocking, I know!> or how we feel or how they feel about us.  We love because God loves…simple as that!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another,
God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:7-12

And any capacity that a heart would have to truly love—with the love of God—comes from having Christ Jesus living in our hearts. The Scriptures make this clear.  Now that doesn’t make me the bearer of good news…unless…you are ‘born of God’ and Jesus lives in you.  And perhaps the day before we celebrate Valentine’s Day (or Happy Hearts Day, as we like to call it!) isn’t the most convenient time to make these statements. But these are God’s words…His Truth…not mine.

God IS love.  And every single person ever born or who ever will be born has been loved by God.  And being loved by God makes them accepted and gives them value and worth.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that
He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son,
so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
John 3:16 AMP

When Jesus knew the time was quickly approaching that He would be tortured and crucified, He so loved those closest to Him and wanted them to be well-equipped to continue on together.  By His example and His words, He encouraged and admonished them.  Here are His words from John, the Apostle He loved best.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another,
even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:34 and 35

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love,
just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
John 15:9-10

Jesus had tried to make it clear to them all along that love was a requirement. They might not have understood at the time but surely they did within a very short period of time.

John also reminded the believers later on in the First Century Church of what Jesus (and the Apostles) had taught them. They, just like us, have the command to love one another. As the song goes, ‘Because God loves you…that’s why I love you.’

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another.
And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ,
and to love one another as He <Jesus> commanded us.
1 John 3:11, 23

So, y’know, the Beatles were correct (at least about this!): All you need is love! I’m just sayin’!