FAITH-FAMILY-FUN
L o ve O u r s e lves 1 Corinthians 13:8 “Love never fails! Everyone who prophesies will stop, and unknown languages will no longer be spoken. All that we know will be forgotten.” Words to remember: “Love never fails!” H e l p y ou r little o ne( s) me m o ri z e 1 C ori nthi a ns 13: 8. T h r o u g h o u t t h i s m o n t h , a s y ou r lit t le o ne( s) hear all ab o ut “l o ve ” and ho w o ur c u l t u r e d e f i n e s l o v e , 1 C o ri n t h ians 13:1- 8 is a gre at s c ri p ture to re ad to get h e r . P a u l d e t a i l s b e a ut ifully the po wer o f o ur he ave nl y F athe r’s l o ve , w h a t i t l o o k s l i k e i n a c t i o n a n d how it sho uld be pr iori ti z e d ab o ve al l e l s e . I t o f f er s a b e a u t i f u l p r o m i s e f o r t e nd e r lit t le hea rts that a re l e arni ng w he re to f i nd th e i r j o y a n d p u r p o s e .
T h e B ib le tells us that lo ve ne ve r f ai l s . Eve rythi ng e l se w i l l f a d e a w a y e x c e p t f or love . Do you remember wha t yo ur f avo ri te to y w as l as t ye a r ? Is i t s t i l l y o u r f a v o r i t e t o y , or h ave yo u fo und a ne w f avo ri te to y? S o m e ti m e s o u r l o v e f o r t h i n g s d oesn ’t las t ver y lo ng. Th e ne at thi ng ab o ut Go d ’s l o v e i s t h a t i t ’ s n o t j u s t a f e e ling t o Him; His lo v e r e m ai ns the s am e . S o m e ti m e s w h e n w e ’ r e u p s e t w i t h som eb od y, we feel like w e d o n’t l o ve the m f o r a l i ttl e w h i l e , b u t G o d ’ s l o v e n e ve r c h anges, ev en when w e d i s o b e y. J e s us t e lls us that o f a ll the thi ngs that w e f e e l are re a l l y i m p o r t a n t t o u s , l o v e is the m os t impo rtant. It w i l l ne ve r f ad e aw ay. I t s o un d s l i k e l o v e i s p r e t t y im port an t , huh? Ho w do w e l o ve l i k e that?
H o w a r e w e s u p p o s ed t o love ourselves? Should we spend lot s of t ime in f r o n t o f t h e m i r r o r sa ying “ I love myself ! ” while we give ourselves a big h u g ? T h a t m i g h t s o u nd a lit t le silly, but you ca n if you wa nt t o! J esus is t a l k i n g a b o u t s o m e t hing a lit t le bit dif ferent . He t ells us t ha t beca use we a r e s o n s a n d d a u g h t ers of Christ , we should t rea t ourselves wit h respect . Ephe s i a n s 5 : 2 9 t e a ches us t ha t we should nourish a nd cherish our bodies, j u s t l i k e Je s u s c a r e d for t he Church. D i sc ussi o n Q ue st i o n: H o w c a n w e sho w o urselv es lo v e by ta king c a re o f o ur b o d ies?
L o ve O t h e r s L o v i n g o t h e r s s e e m s rea lly ha rd somet imes, but it ’s not a s ha rd wit h G od’s h e l p . By a s k i n g f o r God’s help, we will be a ble t o love ot hers much more e a s i l y t h a n w e c o u l d on our own. We ca n remember how G od loves us w h e n w e d o n ’ t d e s e rve it , a nd we ca n t ry t o love ot hers in t he sa me wa y. Yo u c a n p r a c t i c e b y put t ing on your “a ga p e love gla sses” we put together earlier! D i sc ussi o n Q ue st i o n: Wha t is a ga p e lo v e?
L o ve t h e E ar t h
T h e re is a specia l kind o f l o ve that w e c an have f o r o t h e r s ; i t ’ s c a l l e d a g a p e lov e. Th is mea ns tha t we s e e e ve ryo ne as Go d s e e s th e m . F i n d y o u r i n c l u d e d A g ape Love Glasses cut- o ut ( p l e as e no te : A d ul t s up e r v i s i o n i s h i g h l y s u g g e s t e d w it h t h e use o f scisso rs) . W hi l e yo u are w e ari ng the g l a s s e s , t h i n k a b o u t h o w G o d loves o ther s a nd ho w yo u c an to o !
G o d g a v e u s a b e a u tif ul gif t ca lled E a rt h, a nd He a sked us t o t a ke very g o o d c a r e o f i t . T h e E a rt h is a ref lect ion of G od’s bea ut y! T here a re lot s of w a y s t h a t w e c a n s how G od t ha t we a re t ha nkf ul for His bea ut iful gif t . We c a n e n j o y i t b y s p e n ding t ime out side. We ca n ca re for it by clea ning up a f t e r w e a r e d o n e p la ying a nd we ca n lea rn new wa ys t o prot ect it .
G o d want s us to lo ve eve ryb o d y! W e s ho ul d l o ve Go d , l o v e o u r s e l v e s , l o v e ot he rs and lo v e the E ar th. That m i ght s o und l i k e a l o t o f w o r k , b u t l e t ’ s t a l k a b o u t some easy ways that w e c an s ho w l o ve al l aro u n d u s !
D i sc ussi o n Q ue st i o n: H o w d o y o u enjo y sho w ing lo v e to the E a rth?
Love Go d How d o we lo ve Go d? W e m i ght no t b e ab l e to to uc h H i m o r s e e H i m , b u t we can pray, rea d the Bi b l e and l e arn ab o ut H i m . W e c a n a l s o o b e y H i m , eve n w hen it seems dif f i c ul t. The s e are al l w ays tha t w e c a n s h o w G o d l ove. Ju st like yo u sho w yo ur f ri e nd s l o ve b y s p e nd i n g t i m e w i t h t h e m , you can sho w Go d lo v e i n the s am e w ay! D iscu ssion ques tion: W h at i s y o u r f av ori te w ay to s h o w G o d l o v e ?
S e e ! It ’ s n o t s o h a r d t o sprea d love a ll a round you. Do you remember our memory verse? 1 C o r in t h ia n s 1 3 : 8 “L o v e ne v e r fa i l s ! Ev e r yone w ho pr ophe s i e s w i l l s top, a nd u n kn o w n la n g u a g e s wi l l no l ong e r be s poke n. Al l tha t w e know w i l l be forgotten.” L o v e w i l l n e v e r f a i l , w h ich is t he most import a nt t hing for us t o remember. L e t ’ s p r a y t o g e t h e r a n d t ha nk G od for t ea ching us a bout love: “ D e a r J e s u s , t h a n k Y ou for l ov i ng us w i th a ga pe l ov e . W e pr a y tha t You w oul d r e min d u s t o lo v e o u rs e l v e s , l ov e othe r s a nd l ov e the Ea r th, j us t l i ke You do, w it h a n e v e r -e n d in g lov e . Amen .”