Pastor Casey’s Blog

“I Love You More”

These words are very familiar to me while I was growing up. My mother and sister and I would tell the other we love them, only to have the person respond by saying, “I love you more”. This past weekend Alyssa and I were privileged to get the chance to go to Honolulu, Hawaii for my sisters wedding. Savannah, my sister, had asked me back in January, when they became engaged to perform the ceremony. You can imagine how excited I was when I heard that the wedding would be in Hawaii. Especially since I had never been there before! The few days that I was there were spent with family and friends, lying on the beach, shopping in little stores, and eating at local Hawaiian restaurants. It was amazing to swim in an ocean that was not freezing cold like the Washington and Oregon beaches I grew up visiting.

So after a day and a half of tanning and boogie boarding, it was time for business, the wedding we had been waiting for.
The family went down to the beach where Savannah and Scott had picked their perfect wedding site. Once pictures were done, it was game time.
I stood with my back to the ocean and the sunset to my left as I watched Scott walk his mother and father down the beach as the waves came up to our feet.
Followed by two sets of groomsmen and bridesmaids, it was the moment I had been waiting for. My sister with her beautiful white dress and matching white lei then walked through the sand with my mother escorting her. The look on my sister and Scott’s face was priceless.

Savannah and Scott informed me prior to the ceremony that they had written their own vows and would share them when I told them too.
Scott told Savannah in his vow that he remembered always fighting over who loved the other more whenever they said goodbye. Then he told her that when he tells her he loves her more, he doesn’t mean he loves her more than she loves him. He means to say that he loves her even more than the last time he told her he loved her and that his love for her grows more and more each day.

Can we actually tell God, “I love you more”? I know that we cannot possibly love God more than He loves us. But like Scott’s vow, we can continue to love God more than we ever have each day. Our love for God can grow more and more with every breath and with every day of our lives. How can we SHOW God we love Him more than we ever have? By saying, “I love you” on Sunday and then saying it again a week later? What if we try something a little more meaningful than that? If you consider Jesus your best friend, you want to spend time with him, not just when we want something, that’s not what a best friend is for. As we spend more time with God in prayer, in reading our Bible, and in community with other believers, our love for God will continue to grow. Do you love God more? Can you prove it?

Pastor Casey
Children’s Pastor