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Bible

Pen and paper

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

“Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Say: 

What are you? Can you use some words to describe yourself? 

Let’s make a list of things you are.

You are a person.

You are a boy/girl.

You are a son/daughter.

You are a living thing.

You are a child.

You are a student.

You are smart.

You are kind. 

You are creative. 

Can you think of other things that you are? (allow responses and write them down) 

Some people are baseball players or doctors or ballerinas. Maybe you would say your friends are fun or your dad is brave. We have lots of words to describe what we are. Did you know the Bible uses words to describe really important things such as God, Jesus, and love. That’s what we are talking about today: love. 

The Bible gives us a very specific description of what love is. Let’s read to see what words God uses to describe love.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Wow! That’s a long list of words to describe what love is. I counted 16 different things to describe love. Some words say what love is. Some say what love is NOT. It is important to know what love is so we can do a good job of showing love to others. 

We have a lot of people in our lives that we love, so it is important that our actions look like the love in 1 Corinthians. Think about some of those words in the verses: patient, kind, not easily angered. That is how we show love. If our behavior looks differently than those words, it won’t feel like love to the people around us. It will feel like a trick or a lie. 

Think about it this way: imagine you are at a carnival. The rides are all moving. People are laughing. The food all smells so yummy. At one booth, you see a row of huge, sticky caramel apples all lined up with sticks on the top. You ask for one, and mom says yes. You take your treat and bite into it expecting a sweet and crunchy delicious treat….

You begin to chew and suddenly realize, it isn’t an apple at all! The treat is really a yucky white potato with the peeling still on, covered in candy. It takes like dirt, and it’s really confusing and gross! That would be a nasty trick! What a bummer!

That is how it feels to others when we are supposed to be loving but behave in a different way. They feel confused and tricked because we aren’t acting like we love them. It’s good for us that we know exactly how love is supposed to look, so we can do a good job of loving others with our actions. We don’t want to be like caramel covered potatoes!

Pick out one of the words we read today. Which description of love is something you are really good at doing? Can you choose one that you need to work on? 

(Parents, share something you could work on, as well.) Let’s write these down and pray this week about being better at showing others what love is!

/ / Beth Herren