Love One Another

Text: 1 John 4:7-21; John 13:34-35

Prop: cut-out heart shapes

Summary: Jesus told us to love one another.

Today I brought some heart shapes for each of you. You may want to color them and put your name on them later. They remind me of what our Lord Jesus said on the night he had the last supper with his followers. He told them to love one another. A Christian song called “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” is based on these verses. (Read John 13:34-35]

One of his followers, or disciples, was named John. Later in his life he told the new Christians to follow what Jesus said to do and that includes us. In his first letter, he explained that it was the nature of God to love, and when we loved one another that showed we were obeying Jesus.

(Read 1 John 4:7-8)

Then John said something about love that is very important. He said there is no fear in love (verse 18). That means we are not afraid and we do not hate each other when we love one another. Hate comes from being afraid. He said if we hated other people and said we loved God that we would be lying. When we truly love God, we are able to love one another.

Can you think of some ways we can show that we love one another? What might that look like? (Listen to answers. Some examples might be: no bullying, help with chores, share toys, forgive, encourage one another, say nice words to each other, say “I love you.”) Yes, those are ways we can show we love one another.

Let us pray: Dear Lord Jesus, help us to love one another in the same way you love us. Amen.

©2012 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.

Spinning Jesus Heart graphic courtesy of Upon This Rock Graphics.

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