You Are Loved

I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

JOHN 13:34-35

SHOWING LOVE TO OTHERS should be easy, but it isn’t always. There may be reasons why it’s hard to show love to someone, like maybe you’re actually really mad at that person. Or maybe you don’t feel confident. But showing love isn’t always about giving hugs or saying, “I love you.” It can be in small things, like comforting a sibling or sharing your lunch with a friend.

God showed us the greatest love imaginable when he sent Jesus to die for our sins. There truly is no greater love than that. And he expects us, as his followers, to show that same love to the people around us—even the ones it’s hard to love. So how do we do that? Sometimes in big ways; sometimes in small ways. Sometimes it’s just a smile or a kind word. Sometimes it’s using your allowance money to buy a new pair of shoes for someone in need.

God cares for us every day in the way he provides for us, puts people in our lives to love us, and in how he’s there for us all day, every day. We can reflect that same care to others.

DO

Go outside. Look for one thing you could collect or photograph and give to another person that shows you care for him or her. Maybe your brother likes neat rocks or your mom likes wildflowers. Find a way to express through nature that you care for the person.

PRAY

Dear God,

Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for putting people in my life who also care for me. Please help me find big ways and small ways to show everyone around me that I care. Amen.

READ

Philippians 2:4; James 2:14-17