How do we Love Others?

Love your neighbor as yourself.—Matthew 22:39 NIV

It is easy to show love to someone who is nice to us or whom we like, but it can be difficult to be kind to those whom we don't like or who have done something wrong that hurt us or made us sad.

God is a God of love. He loves everyone, and He wants to teach us how to love others too, even when it is difficult. The Bible says we should love others as ourselves. That means we show the same kindness and love to others as we would want them to show to us.

For example, if you want to ride your friend's bike, would you take it without asking your friend? You wouldn't want someone to ride off with your bike without asking you, would you? You would probably want him to ask you politely if he could use it first. Showing love would be doing the same to your friend.

When we show love to people, we are being like Jesus.

Action:
Think about how you would like someone to show you kindness, and then draw a picture of you doing that kind deed for someone else.

Love is the Best

Love never fails.—1 Corinthians 13:8 NIV

Doesn't it feel wonderful to be loved? Think about how your mommy and daddy love you and care for you. Because they love you, you know that they will take good care of you, right?

Love is a wonderful part of our lives. We can show love through acts of kindness and by the thoughtfulness we show others in the things we do and say.

When we do things out of love, then we know that our actions will be kind and considerate of others. We will choose to do those things that will make others happy and not just ourselves.

Love never fails to brighten someone's day, to make people feel better, and to be an example of God to others too, because God is love. Doing things out of love is always the right choice.

Action:
Make a loving-deed paper chain. Cut strips of different colors of paper. Every time you do a kind deed, attach a link to the paper chain. See how long you can make your loving-deed paper chain.

Be Like Jesus

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.—John 13:35 NIV

Jesus once said that the way people would know that we are His followers is if we show love to others. When we are kind and courteous to others, this shows them an example of what Jesus is like.

It is not so hard for us to be caring to those who are nice to us. But when someone is mean to us, annoys us, or makes us mad, it can be very difficult to be kind and well-mannered.

Jesus told us that we should even be good to those who are mean to us. That can be difficult to do, but by being patient, calm, and kind even when someone is unkind to us, our reactions show others that we are doing our best to act like Jesus would, because we love and follow Jesus.

Action:
Learn this simple rhyme to remind you of the importance of love:

Whenever I am kind,
I always seem to find,
That people aren't so sad.
And this makes Jesus glad!

Love Focuses on the Good

Love covers a multitude of sins.—1 Peter 4:8 NASU

Have you ever done something clumsy, like spilling your milk or tripping and falling in a mud puddle? Did it make you feel a little silly and worry what other people were thinking about you? We all have times when we do something that is a little clumsy or careless, and there are times when we see others who do the same.

When we see someone who has made a mistake, it is important that we do not make fun of the person or get angry at that person for the mistake. We should react kindly and focus on the good in the person. When we think about the good someone does, then the little mistakes do not matter as much.

Love helps us not to worry about the mistake, but to think about the person, and how we can show him or her kindness. Just as Jesus sees the best in each one of us and loves us despite our mistakes, we can show that same love to others, too.

Action:
With a whiteboard marker, draw a big scribble on a whiteboard. When you're done, take a tissue or cloth and erase the scribble. The eraser is like love; it helps to make things right again.

How Can We Show Jesus Our Love?

Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.—Matthew 22:37, paraphrased

There are many ways that we can show our love for others. Our actions can show love, such as when we greet our parents with a hug, or we share our toys with our younger brother or sister; this shows that we love them. Another way that we can show love is by saying kind and loving words to someone.

We may sometimes wonder how we can show our love to Jesus, even though we cannot see or touch Him. But we can give love to Jesus in ways that are similar to loving others. We can tell Him we love Him and we can thank Him for the wonderful things He does for us. We can show Jesus we love Him by spending time with Him, reading His Word and praying. Another way we can show our love to Jesus is by doing the things His Word tells us to do.

Jesus makes our lives happier, and we can make Jesus happier too by showing Him love in these ways.

Action:
Close your eyes and tell Jesus two things that you love about Him. You can say it out loud, whisper it, or simply think it. Jesus will hear it all the same.

Little Acts of Kindness

Love one another.—1 John 4:7 NIV

Have you ever been hot and thirsty and someone offered you a refreshing drink? That probably not only quenched your thirst, but made you feel happy too. Kindness is a way that we can show love to others.

We can show kindness by doing kind things. They don't have to be big things, either; even little acts of kindness can make someone's day happier and brighter.

Jesus wants us to show love to others. In fact, Jesus told us that this was one of the most important things that we could do—to be kind and loving to others. When we are kind to others, this makes others happy. Jesus is proud of us when we show kindness, and it makes us happy too.

Action:
Think of something kind that you can do for someone in your family, then do the kind deed. See how it makes that person happier, and it will make you feel better, too.

Knock, Knock

I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.—Revelation 3:20 NIV

Long ago, Jesus came to earth for a very special reason. Do you know what that was? He came to earth to bring us salvation. Jesus loves each of us very much, and He wants us to open our hearts to His love.

The Bible says that Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. When you hear your friend knocking on your door, what do you do? You open the door and say "Come in," right? That's what Jesus wants us to do too. He wants us to open the door of our hearts and say, "Please come in, Jesus, and be a part of my life." And He will!

Jesus wants to get to know us and to be a part of our lives. When Jesus is a part of our lives, we are happier, because we have His love in our hearts.

Action:
Have you asked Jesus into your heart? If not, you can pray this little prayer, and then Jesus will always be with you.

"Jesus, please come into my heart. Thank You for being my friend. I want You to be a part of my life forever. Amen."

So Much Love

God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.—John 3:16, paraphrased

Jesus came to earth so that we could learn about God's love for us. When we believe in Jesus and open our hearts to His love, He becomes a part of our lives. And what's even better is that when we believe in Jesus we can look forward to heaven and spending eternity with Jesus.

We can read many wonderful stories in the Bible about Jesus' life on earth, and through those stories we learn more about God's love, His power, and His plan for us. Jesus helps us to live a godly life—one of love and compassion for others. We can follow Jesus' example of how He related to and cared for the many people He came to know during His time on earth.

Isn't it wonderful to know about Jesus and His love for us?

Action:
Draw and color a picture of Jesus and you. Then have your daddy or mommy write "Jesus loves me" on the picture. Post it by your bed to remind you of Jesus' love for you.

Jesus in Our Lives

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.—Acts 16:31 NKJV

The Bible tells us that if we believe in Jesus, then we can be saved. What does it mean to be saved? It means that Jesus has forgiven us for our sins—the bad things that we have done.

There are times when we do things that are wrong or that cause hurt to others or ourselves. These things make Jesus sad. Jesus knew that we would sin. Out of His great love for all people He chose to die for us, so that through His death we could be saved and forgiven of our sins, and receive His gift of eternal life.

When we believe in Jesus and ask Him to be a part of our lives, we accept His wonderful gift of love and forgiveness. Then we should do our best to make Jesus happy by the things that we say and do.

Action:
Close your eyes and think about Jesus' love, and how He came to earth to save each one of us. Doesn't it make you happy to know that God loves you that much? Now thank Jesus for His gift of forgiveness and salvation.

Power, Power, Power!

To all who received Him, He gave power to become children of God.—John 1:12 RSV

God is our loving heavenly Father. When we believe in Him and make Him a part of our lives, we become His children. Just like a loving father takes good care of his children, so God looks after us, and makes sure that we are well cared for.

God is very powerful. When we are His children, we can receive a little bit of His power, too. God's power can make us bold and brave and proud that we are His children.

God likes to help us to do what is right, and He gives power to us when we ask Him to help us make the right choices, to know what is good to do, and to know what will bring us happiness.

God is very powerful, but He is also full of love. Every one of us is God's special creation, and when we open our hearts to His love, we learn more about our wonderful and mighty Father—God!

Action:
Talk about how you would like God's power to help you do something that is difficult for you or something new that you're learning to do. Remember that God likes to help us in big ways and little ways.

Jesus Is God's Gift of Love

Salvation is found in no one else; there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.—Acts 4:12, paraphrased

Only Jesus can save us. He came to earth so that we could come to know God and His love and care for us.

When we think about Jesus' time on earth, we remember the way that He cared for people, how He showed love and kindness to everyone—the sick, the poor, and even those who weren't kind to Him. That's because, no matter who we are or what we do, Jesus loves us. He wants us to invite Him into our hearts and lives so that we can get to know Him better.

Jesus is our way to heaven. When we believe in Jesus, we are opening our hearts to God's great love for us. Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal life. He is God's gift of love to us.

Action:
Draw a picture of you and Jesus in heaven doing something you look forward to doing with Him.

That Simple!

By grace are you saved through faith.—Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

When we believe in Jesus' love, we can be saved. It is that simple! We don't have to be perfect for Jesus to love us. He loves us even when we have been bad and have done wrong. We can always turn to Him
for forgiveness.

Jesus' love for us is perfect and wonderful, and that is why He was willing to give His life for us. If we believe by faith that Jesus has forgiven us for our sins, and that He will be there to help us live better lives filled with love for Him and others, then we are inviting Jesus into our hearts. This is called being saved. We are saved from our sins—the wrong things we do.

And not only are we saved, but we also have heaven to look forward to with Jesus, where we will see Him face to face, and get to know and love Him even more.

Action:
Ask your mommy or daddy to hide one of your toys in the room while you close your eyes. Pretend that your toy is calling out to you to be found, then go and look for it. Then once you find the toy, jump up and down for joy. Talk about how happy Jesus is when we call out to Him to be found and saved, and how happy it must make Him and us.

A Very Special Gift

If you say that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.—Romans 10:9, paraphrased

When Jesus came to earth long ago, He came with a special mission. Do you know what that mission was? It was to bring us salvation. Jesus died for us so that we could be saved from our sins. This also makes it possible for us to get to know Jesus in a closer way, and experience His love for us each and every day. That was a very special gift that Jesus offered us!

To receive that gift, the Bible says that we need to believe in Jesus. The Bible also tells us the wonderful story about how even though Jesus died, God brought Him back to life! God wants us to believe that wonderful miracle.

If we believe in Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead, then we can be saved. No matter who we are, where we live, or even what we do, when we have received God's gift of salvation we are saved forever.

Action:
Draw a picture of Jesus being raised from the dead. Then thank Jesus for the wonderful gift of salvation that He's given us.

A Reflection of Jesus

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new person; old things are passed away, all things have become new.—2 Corinthians 5:17, paraphrased

Have you ever had a toy that broke, but then your daddy fixed it and it was as good as new? When we receive Jesus into our heart and ask Him to help us learn to live like Him, it is as if Jesus comes into our life and fixes things and makes us better people. We become new. We may look the same on the outside, but Jesus has changed our heart and made us better people.

We learn to do things Jesus' way, to treat others as Jesus would treat them, and to reflect Jesus in what we say and do. When we let Jesus into our lives and we do our best to follow His teachings, then we learn to be a little more like Jesus.

We will never be perfect like Jesus, but we can grow in kindness, thoughtfulness, and joy. Then people will see the love of Jesus shining through us.

Action:
Take a handheld mirror and point a light at it. Do you see the light bounce off the mirror and shine somewhere else? Think of Jesus as the light and us as the mirror. When we live like Jesus wants us to, we bring Jesus' light and joy to others.

We All Make Mistakes

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.—Romans 3:23 NIV

No matter who we are, there will be times when we will do something unloving or that we didn't mean to do. Even when we try to do what is right, we will never be perfect. That is why we need Jesus.

Jesus gave His life for us so that our sins could be forgiven. Jesus knows that sometimes it's difficult to do what is right, and He wants to help us learn to make good choices.

It can be hard to admit that we have made a mistake. But when we do something wrong, we need to ask Jesus and others to forgive us, and then we can try again to do the right thing. It makes Jesus happy when we are sorry for our wrong actions and want to do better. He is always happy to see us try again to do what is right.

Action:
Talk about a time when you did something wrong that you needed to be forgiven for. Did it make you feel sad when you did the wrong thing? When you asked for forgiveness, did it make you feel better? Did you try to do the right thing after that?