I think the two are inter connected, love necessitates that it is shown in actions, otherwise it is not a real love, just like emaan must be shown in actions as well as belief in the heart and speaking.
Of course you should not go upto a random women and say you love them, but there is no harm in telling brothers that you love them for the sake of Allah.
I think the perfect example is the love of Allah, we speak it on our tongues, feel it in our hearts, and because of the love we feel for Allah, it drives us to do righteous actions and obey him, our love for Allah is a motivation for us to worship him, for example, sometimes we feel lazy to pray salah, then we think I don't want to displease my lord because I love him and I don't want him to be displeased with me. You see it's very hard to displease someone you love very much, rather you just want to fulfill their every wish and make them happy cos of your love for them.
Similarly, when you love a person it manifests in how you treat them, if your love is sincere it will show in your actions, you will not wish to hurt them or cause them pain in any way, your only desire will be to make them happy and smile, and to see them sad will make you sad, to the point you'd do anything to make them smile again, even if you have to move mountains, and to know they're happy will bring you peace and contentment.
So brother I think both are connected and when you tell someone you love them, it will automatically show in your actions. And if you don't tell them it but just try to show it in your actions then you're depriving the person of hearing something beautifull, because which person does not like to hear someone say to them "I love you". When it's sincere there's nothing more pleasing to our ears than to hear someone say to us that they love us, and we'd love to say it back accompanied with a hug
Such moments and memories are never forgotten, they remain with us for eternity and we treasure them, even more so when that person leaves us and returns to Allah.