Jesus Loves Me. This I Know?

I’m a worship music geek. Bethel, Passion, Hillsong, I go nuts for any of it. I’ve always been this way, transfixed by the words on screen at church, always hoping for my new favorite worship song from the radio. Nowadays, YouTube and Spotify have changed the game.

God’s long spoken to me through music — ironic, perhaps, as I’m a pretty non-musical person. (Learning guitar is hard.)

Sometimes certain songs just grab hold of me and never let go. Particularly during difficult seasons. The words, the melodies reverberating in my bones where hope tries to survive.

The latest iteration of Hillsong’s worship family is Hillsong Young & Free. I’ve jokingly referred to Y&F as “Hillsong Kidz Bop,” but they’re truly amazing. The energy, the dynamic sounds, the surprisingly deep lyrics. Y&F’s latest album, III, features some bippity-boppity tracks (“Let Go”) and some brutally honest ones (“Highs and Lows”).

Their song, “Jesus Loves Me,” hearkens back to childhood. To that first song we all learned as good little Christian kids.

To that truth we all must now wrestle with as messed up adults.

Jesus loves me — but does he really?

As a child, I never doubted that Jesus loves me. From my family upbringing to my Christian school to Sunday School, it was engrained in me from the start that he surely did.

And even now, if I’m being honest, I’ve never struggled to believe that. Yes, Jesus loves me. For the Bible tells me so.

But does he like me? Does he find me enjoyable? Why? Does he only “have” to love and like me because he’s Jesus?

Furthermore, does his Church love me? Do they like me? Because so often I feel that they do not. That they just don’t have time for me. For my struggles and emotions. That they’ll come up to me and say to my worries, “But Jesus loves you, Tom,” and go right on their way.

How often I don’t need Jesus to love me — I need his Church to love me.

I’ve realized in recent years that I also have a role in this story, that I need to love his Church. I tend to be a love-sponge, ever needing to be filled but never wrung out. Yet my most meaningful summers were spent working at camps and serving the homeless, and I desperately need reminding that I have some Jesus-love to give, too.

So, to recap:

I started out believing Jesus loves me and that that was enough.

But then it wasn’t. It wasn’t enough. I needed his Church to love me too, and they didn’t.

And now. I see the pendulum swinging back.

Yes, Jesus loves me. His love is enough. Even when his messed up Church doesn’t love me or doesn’t love me the way I need. Even when my messed up self doesn’t love the Church back. When wires get crossed or tangled or miss altogether.

Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so.

Yes, Jesus loves me. And his love won’t forsake me, I know.

So simple it should be a children’s song for adults.