[Title: I LOVE YOU] [Long Instrumental Intro] [Verse 1] I used to think love started in my heart. Something I found. Something I made. Something I could lose in the dark. Then I found the beginning— We love him, because he first loved us. [Silence] Before I ever said the words— YOU LOVED ME. [Instrumental Build] [Chorus] I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. Because HE FIRST LOVED ME. When I was hiding— YOU LOVED ME. When I was frightened— YOU LOVED ME. When I had nothing beautiful to bring— YOU LOVED ME. I LOVE YOU. Because HE FIRST LOVED ME. [Huge Melodic Drop] [Verse 2] Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [Silence] So love didn't begin when I reached for heaven. Love came down when I could not climb. [Instrumental] And now I know what I am trying to say every time my heart runs out of words— [Chorus] I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. Because HE FIRST LOVED ME. Not because the night never came. Not because I never cried. I love You because Your love was already there BEFORE MINE. [Long Melodic Instrumental] [Bridge] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [Silence] And He did. [Build] This is how I learned the words. Not from a feeling. Not from a song. FROM THE CROSS. [Instrumental Build] God is love. [Build] God is love. [Hard Silence] And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. [Huge Melodic Drop] [Final Chorus] I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! But even these words came second— HE LOVED ME FIRST! Before my praise! Before my song! Before I knew where I belonged! He loved me. And now the heart He loved can finally answer— I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. JESUS, I LOVE YOU. Because YOU FIRST LOVED ME. [Long Instrumental Outro] [Outro] We love him, because he first loved us. [Silence] That's where love began. [Long Silence] JESUS IS THE LORD.
