Conversation Starters: Love
Posted by Karah
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE: We’ve probably all heard someone say, “I love him, but I don’t like him right now.” In that attitude, we treat love as some sort of concept we are required to embrace—especially with relatives—but there are no concrete, day-to-day expressions of love. Yet the starting point for any strong relationship is love—love that is expressed in both attitudes and actions. Jesus modeled this kind of love for us, and calls us to do the same.
LIFE POINT: One day as Jesus taught, a man asked Him a question. “Who should we help?” Jesus answered the man by telling a story. “A man walked along a road to another town. Some bad people took his money and clothes. They hurt him and left him lying by the side of the road. Two church helpers walked down the road and saw the hurt man. They did not stop to help but crossed to the other side and kept walking. A third man walked by. He was a Samaritan, a person from the country of Samaria. He stopped to help. He bandaged the hurt man’s cuts, put him on a donkey, and took him to an inn. He paid the innkeeper to care for the man.” Jesus asked the man which one of the people was a neighbor and helped. The man said the Samaritan. Jesus told the man to do the same and help everyone.
LIVE IT OUT: Involve your child in thinking of and completing a project that helps a person in need. Perhaps you could choose a neighbor on your street.
LIFE POINT: A man asked Jesus: “Teacher, what how can I inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked what the law said. The man replied, “ ’Love God love your neighbor.’ But who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded by telling this story. A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On his way, he was attacked by robbers and left on the side of the road. A priest, then a Levite, came down the same road. When they saw the man,they crossed over to the other side of the road and continued on his way. Then a Samaritan came down the road. He bandaged the man’s wounds, put him on his donkey, and took him to an inn to take care of him. The next morning, he gave money to the innkeeper to take care of the man. He pledged to pay back the innkeeper.
LIVE IT OUT: Help your child make an acrostic. Print GOD LOVES ME down the left side of a sheet of paper. Help your child think of words beginning with each letter that show that God loves her.
THE POINT: Let love overflow into every relationship. Are you known as a loving person? Why or why not? Who is someone you can choose to love in a more intentional way this week? Discuss the following quote:
“Love one another dearly always. There is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another.” 1 —Victor Hugo
LIVE IT OUT: Your student has been encouraged to do one or both Live It Out activities. Here are some suggested ways to help your student:
If he or she plans to complete Dwell:
•Talk to your student about what it means to dwell in the love of Christ.
•Memorize John 15:9 with your student.
If he or she plans to complete The Price is Right:
•Help your student by discussing what you’ve sacrificed because of your great love for him or her.
•Encourage your student to love others selflessly and sacrificially.
1. Victor Hugo, Les misérables, (New York: Carleton, 1869), 165.