During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Before class, prepare the cans or cups by putting a handful of pebbles, beans, or rice in each one. If possible, cover the open ends of the cans with scraps of material and tie them on with string. The cans will be used for a tag game in the Connecting section and during the Teaching section.
Also, you will create a song, rhythm, or chant to help the children learn the memory verse for this unit. If you wish, you may record the song for use in this and the next 3 lessons.
I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. If you love one another, everyone will know you are my disciples.
John 13:34–35
Love is one of the unmistakable traits of a life lived for Jesus. As followers of the One whose love brought salvation, we have received an extraordinary gift that came at a great price. We are free and forgiven because of God’s abundant and gracious love. Since we have received so much, how can we not share it?
Is your life marked with the love of Jesus? Do others know by your words and actions that He lives in your heart? Spend time with the One who loves you deeply and completely. Ask Him to fill you with a renewed sense of His great love for you. Ask Him to bring to mind the people in your life who need to see God’s great love. Then let the love that fills your life spill out onto those around you. Let it be a sign to others that your heart belongs to Jesus and that His love makes you complete.
Let the families know that you will be talking about what it means to love others. Encourage them to be intentional about sharing love with their children in the coming weeks and recognizing the love their children show to others. This will help the children to more fully understand this important character trait.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Greet the children warmly as they arrive. Ask them to share with you about the person they love the most. If possible, give them a few minutes to share this information with others in the class as well.
Allow 2–3 children to respond to each question.
When we think of love, we usually think of the people who are important to us and those we really like. But the Bible teaches us that love means more than that. Let’s play a game to learn what it means to love others in the way the Bible teaches us.
Have the children sit in a circle. Ask for a volunteer to begin the game. Have that child sit in the middle of the circle, and put a blindfold on that child. This child will be the Guesser. Give the cans with pebbles in them to 2 children sitting in the circle. If there is an open end on each can, have the child cover this with 1 hand.
When it is time to start, I will ask you to do an action and you will do it. For example, I may say, “Walk around the circle” or “Sit down.”
As you do the actions I ask you to do, the Guesser will try to find 1 of the people who is carrying a can. When he knows where 1 of the cans is, he will point in the direction of the can. If you have the can and he points at you, you will take his place as the Guesser and we will play again.
Begin the game by telling the children in the circle to do some of the actions in the list that follows. You may also create your own actions. Be sure to name some slower actions, such as taking slow steps or tiptoeing, so the pebbles will not make much noise in the cans. But some of the actions should be active, such as running in place or jumping up and down, so the pebbles will make noise in the cans and the Guesser can hear where they are. Some ideas are:
When the Guesser is able to point to a child with the can, congratulate him and have the child he pointed to take his place. Repeat the game a few times. Then have all of the children sit in a circle for the lesson.
For those of you who were Guessers, how could you tell where the cans were?
Allow 2–3 children to respond. Be sure they mention that the pebbles made noise in the cans and they heard the noise.
If you are holding a can, shake it loudly for 5 seconds. Stop!
These noisy cans can help us to understand the love the Bible teaches us about. When your heart is filled with love for others, it shows on the outside. You cannot hide it—and that is a good thing! Love is made for sharing!
Do not collect the cans. Simply ask the children with the cans to place them on the ground in front of them for a moment. They will need the cans for the Teaching section of the lesson.
Today we will learn more about what the Bible teaches about loving others. What you learn may surprise you!
As we talk about love today, we will do something fun. If you are holding a can when you hear someone say the word “love,” I want you to shake the can so that the pebbles make a lot of noise! As you shake, count to 5 quietly. Then pass your can to the person on your left.
Show the children which direction left is so they know who to pass their cans to. The word “love” is underlined throughout the Teaching section to help you know when to listen for children to shake their cans.
Show the children which direction left is and continue teaching.
Who are some people you love?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Most of us love family and friends. Do you want to know something amazing? I know someone who loves all of you! It is Jesus! In fact, He loves us so much that He died for us! Jesus is love!
When Jesus lived on earth, He taught us about love. He taught us that the most important thing we can do is to love God.
Does anyone remember who else Jesus tells us to love?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Jesus told us to love our neighbour! If you have a can, place it on the ground in front of you. Please do not pick it up until I say, “Mark 12:30.” Then you may shake your cans.
If possible, read this verse directly from your Bible. Be sure to say Mark 12:30 out loud at the end of the Bible verse.
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” There is no commandment more important than these.
Mark 12:30–31
If needed, remind the children to quietly pick up their cans.
Jesus told us to love God and to love our neighbours. When we love, we show who God is to other people.
Who are our neighbours?
Allow 2–3 children to respond. Help them to understand that all people are their neighbours.
Jesus did not teach us to love only the people who are close to us. He taught us to love all people. This is important because it shows who God is to others!
How can we show love to others?
Allow 2–3 children to respond. Possible answers include: we can show love by hugging people, saying kind words to them, helping them, and telling them we love them.
Those are all great ways to show love! There are also lots of other ways we can show love. Listen to what Jesus taught us about how to show love to others.
In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you.
Matthew 17:12
How do you want people to treat you?
Allow 2–3 children to respond. They will probably say they want others to be kind to them.
We want people to treat us in loving ways. We want them to be kind to us, to share with us, to help us when we need help, and to care about the things that are important to us. So, if we want others to show love to us, we should also show love to them. That is an important reason to show love to others. Now I will collect the cans. If you want, you can pretend to shake a can each time I say “love” in the verses I will read to you.
Collect the cans and place them beside you.
There is another reason that we should show love to others. Listen to something Jesus said about love.
I give you a new command. Love one another. You must love one another, just as I have loved you. If you love one another, everyone will know you are my disciples.
John 13:34–35
Loving others shows them that we love Jesus and that He loves us. Our love is like the noisy cans. When we are filled with Jesus’ love, we show it to others in what we do and say! It is hard to stay quiet about good news like that! Love is made for sharing!
Shake both cans for 5 seconds. Then place them down somewhere out of reach of the children.
Let me tell you 1 more reason to show love to others. It is good for us! It makes us healthier and happier when we choose to love others. Love is made for sharing!
Now that we know why it is important to love others, how will we show it?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
Those are some great ways to show love to others. Here are a few more:
Include the items from this list that the children have not already mentioned:
The Bible also gives us some ideas about how we can love others. Listen to this verse:
Finally, I want all of you to agree with one another. Be understanding. Love one another. Be kind and tender. Be humble.
1 Peter 3:8
What does this verse say we can do to show love to others?
Allow children to respond until they have shared all of these answers: agree with one another, be understanding, be kind, be tender, and be humble.
When you are humble, it means that you do not think you are always correct or that you are the most important person. Instead, you honour others more than yourself.
How do you think it would make others feel if we chose to be understanding, kind, tender, and humble toward them?
Allow 2–3 children to respond.
I would feel loved if someone was understanding, kind, tender, and humble toward me. There are many ways to show love to others.
Let’s use the ideas we have talked about to practice showing love to others in different situations. Turn to a child next to you. He will be your partner for the next activity.
Have the children find partners. Then read the first situation aloud and ask the students to role-play how they can show love in that situation. One of the children will be the person who shows love, and the other will be the one who receives the love.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, give the children crayons and, if available, scissors. Allow 2–3 minutes for the children to draw on and cut or tear out the hearts.
Our memory verse this week reminds us of ways we can show love to other people. It says:
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
Finally, I want all of you to agree with one another. Be understanding. Love one another. Be kind and tender. Be humble.
1 Peter 3:8
Create a song or rhythm to help the children to learn the memory verse. If possible, allow the children to shake the pebble-filled cans as they sing, clap, or chant.
Review the memory verse song or chant 3 times. End class by saying this blessing, based on 1 Peter 3:8, over the children.
Blessing: May you show love to others with understanding, kindness, tenderness, and humility. May others see the love of Jesus when they see you!
Lead the children in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
