Teach children to become powered by love and love well out of the overflow of their relationship with God.
This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. When you click on a link and make a purchase, a small commission may be paid to Gather & Grow which helps keep this ministry going. So thank you! Read my full disclosure here.
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 ICB
God’s love is the foundation of the Gospel and we should focus on his love, especially when sharing the Good News with kids. Before they recognize their sin and humanity, children need a deep understanding of how loved they are by their Father God. It is out of this divine love relationship that we learn to confess our shortcomings, embrace grace and live renewed and redeemed lives.
The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because he loves us. C.S. Lewis
For too long Christians have gotten it backwards. Repent first, then learn about his love. It’s no wonder we’re losing Jesus followers to more attractive, progressive theology. But we don’t have to abandon the truth of the Gospel to follow Jesus and live a sanctified life. Instead, we need to live a life powered by love.
Our kids can live powered by love, too! Share the following Bible verses with your children to help them understand God’s love and how it equips us to love well.
Powered By Love From God That Is. . .
Abundant (Psalm 86:15)
Unchanging (Psalm 136:26)
Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not. C.S. Lewis
Saving (John 3:16)
Present (Zephaniah 3:17)
Within Us (Romans 5:5)
Powered By Love From God To Love. . .
Our Neighbors (Mark 12:31)
Those who are Hard to Love (Luke 6:35)
Faithfully (1 John 4:7)
With Patience (Ephesians 4:2)
Without Fear (1 John 4:18)
In Unity (Colossians 3:14)
Sacrificially (John 15:13)
We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us – not because we have deserved his love and not in spite of our undeserving; not because we try and not because we recognize the futility of our trying; but simply because he has chosen to love us. We are children because he is our Father; and all of our efforts, fruitful and fruitless, to do good, to speak truth, to understand, are the efforts of children who, for all their precocity, are children still in that before we loved him, he loved us, as children, through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat
It’s no wonder that LOVE is the first Fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. When we teach our children how much God loves them, they will love well out of the overflow of the security and pleasure of God’s love. And every other good character trait we desire for our kids will grow out of that love.
How are you teaching your kids to be powered by love?
Join us this summer as we study the Fruit of the Spirit together! Find out more about this FREE family devotional HERE.
Leave a Reply