#4 of The Four Most Important Things

“I love you.”

The Four Things That Matter Most is a book by hospice and palliative care physician Ira Byock.

The fourth most important thing about living, he writes, is that we say “I love you.”

This Dartmouth School of Medicine faculty member cites such varied sources as our old friends St. Paul and John.  The former wrote that “Faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.”  The latter wrote, and taught generations to sing, that “All you need is love.”

We could add that Jesus himself tells us to “Love your neighbor as yourself” in Mark 12:31.  Christ starts with the implied assumption that we love and accept ourselves, which then makes us capable of loving others.

People in your life need to hear “I love you” today.

Maybe one who needs to hear that from you today is yourself.