We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19, King James Version
When did you last tell God you love Him?
We ask God for many things. We thank Him for many things. But how often do we simply tell Him, I love You? Not because we want something. Not at the end of a long prayer list. Just because it is true.
Many of us find it awkward. It feels too simple, or too soft, or like something only children say. But Jesus asked Peter the same question three times beside the sea in John 21. Do you love Me? He wanted to hear it.
This song says it plainly. I love You. I'm not being poetic.
We love Him because He first loved us
The chorus is built on 1 John 4:19. We love Him, because He first loved us. Our love is never the starting point. It is always an answer.
Romans 5:8. God showed His love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He did not wait for us to clean up. He did not ask us to be worth it.
Jeremiah 31:3. I have loved thee with an everlasting love. When I was nothing, when I was no one, He had already decided.
Luke 15:20. When the lost son was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to him. That is the love in the bridge of this song. The way you love somebody who came back for you.
A love that changes how you live
The verses of this song do something unusual for a love song to God. They describe the small, ordinary changes that love makes. Sleeping the whole night through. Singing in the kitchen. Greeting strangers like you know them. Being bad at holding grudges. Being easier to be around.
That is what 2 Corinthians 5:17 means when it says that anyone in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone. Not in one dramatic moment only, but in a thousand small ways that the people around you start to notice.
And the line about standing in the gap comes from Ezekiel 22:30, where God looked for someone to stand in the gap and found no one. Jesus is the One who finally stood there for us.
What the song is about
I Love You is a plain love song to God. It remembers being nothing and no one, being loved first, and being given a chance that never runs out. It describes the person that love has made, lighter and kinder and less afraid. And it ends by saying the words out loud, without caring who hears.
I Love You is the album's plainest love song to God. Daalu by Michael CU is out on 3 November 2026.
A prayer of love to God
Lord, I am not asking for anything right now. I just want to say that I love You. You loved me when I was nothing and no one, and You never gave up on me. Thank You for the person Your love is making me. I love You more than everything. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Listen
I Love You is out now. Press play, and save it to your library so it is there when you need it.
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It is also track 12 on the album Daalu, out 3 November 2026. Pre-save the album
I Love You lyrics
IntroI love you
Oh, I love you
ChorusI love you more than everything
You mean the world to me
Because when I was nothing
When I was no one
You loved me first
And after everything I've done
You never gave up on me
Because of you
I will always have a chance
Verse 1You redeemed me
You gave your life for mine
You stood in the gap where nobody stood
You fought the fight I couldn't fight
And you handed me the win
And now I laugh at things I used to fear
I sleep the whole night through
I sing in the kitchen when nobody's home
I dance badly and I don't care
PrechorusBecause of you I live
Because of you I thrive
Because of you
I'm not who I was
ChorusI love you more than everything
You mean the world to me
Because when I was nothing
When I was no one
You loved me first
And after everything I've done
You never gave up on me
Because of you
I will always have a chance
Verse 2You didn't wait for me to clean up
You didn't ask me to be worth it
You came into the mess with your sleeves rolled up
And you called me by my name
And now I greet strangers like I know them
I answer the phone when it rings
I'm bad at holding grudges now
I'm easier to be around
PrechorusBecause of you I live
Because of you I thrive
Because of you
My life is full
ChorusI love you more than everything
You mean the world to me
Because when I was nothing
When I was no one
You loved me first
And after everything I've done
You never gave up on me
Because of you
I will always have a chance
BridgeIf you asked me why
I couldn't give you one reason
I'd have to start at the beginning
And I don't know where that is
I only know I was going one way
And now I'm going another
And the only thing that changed
Was you
I love you
I'm not being poetic
I love you
The way you love somebody
Who came back for you
So I'll say it out loud
I don't care who hears
I love you
I love you
ChorusI love you more than everything
You mean the world to me
Because when I was nothing
When I was no one
You loved me first
And after everything I've done
You never gave up on me
Because of you
I will always have a chance
OutroI love you
I love you
More than everything
For choirs and worship leaders
I Love You fits a time of intimate worship, after the praise has settled and the room is ready to say something simple. You are free to sing it in your church. For the lyric sheet, message @michaelukwuma on Facebook, Instagram or X, and tell me where it was sung.