Who knew that three words, the longest one only consisting of four letters, would hold so much merit. These three words, uttered between couples, family members, friends or really anyone these days. Many people just say “I love you” to get what they want, others (most people I fear) say them without knowing their true meaning. These three words hold an incredible amount of power – but, did you know, these three little words also have many meanings. 

Yes, I’m talking about “I love you.” 

Three words we’ve all heard before whether it be your brother, mother, grandfather, best friend, husband or boyfriend. However, these words have so many meanings it’s sometimes difficult to interpret the real meaning behind them. 

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the difference between “I love you” and “I’m in love with you.” This can be a tricky topic as many people have different views. Here’s mine: 

You can love your mom, your dad, your cat, your best friend, but to be in love with someone, the feelings are much stronger. Falling in love takes a long time. You have to get past the “honeymoon” stage, past the infatuation, and really have taken the time to get to know the person. Really know them. I’m not talking about their favorite color, their birthday, or their hobbies – I mean really knowing them. Knowing how many freckles they have on their face, what scares them, what truly makes them happy, what makes them laugh or cry, know their goals, their hopes and dreams, etc. 

Being in love with someone is also reflected in the way you treat them. If you can’t get enough of them, you want to spend time with them every chance you get no matter what you’re doing, if you want to be there for them when they have a bad day, or even a good day, if you would do anything, anything for that person, you just might be in love with them. Don’t get me wrong, there are many falling in love doesn’t have a set definition. But you’ll know the different between loving someone and being in love when it happens. 

Love also has different definitions in different religions. 

In Christianity, the understanding is that love comes from God. The love of man and woman, “eros” in Greek, and the unselfish love of others, “agape,” are contrasted as ‘ascending’ and ‘descending’ love, respectively. 

Saint Augustine said that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an over indulgence, but he has wanted to love and be loved his entire life. 

In Buddhism, Kāma is sensuous, sexual love. It is an obstacle on the path to Buddhist enlightenment, since it is selfish. 

Mahayana Buddhism involves the complete abandonment of oneself in order to take on the burden of helping a suffering world. In order to follow the path of enlightenment, one must abandon themselves and devote themselves entirely to unselfish, altruistic love for all beings. 

In Judaism, Ahava is the most commonly-used term for both interpersonal love and love of God. Judaism employs several definitions of love. As for love between people, the Torah states: “Love your neighbor like yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). As for love of God, one is commanded to love God “with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

Who knew there were so many definitions of love and so many different ways to express it? “I love you” may just be three little words, but they have a much greater meaning.