Feel the Love on Valentine’s Day

The word “love” appears over 300 times in the Bible – in some translations, nearly 350! In fact, in the Godly Play version of the story of the Ten Commandments, God’s message to man through the tablets given to Moses is distilled down to just three statements: Love God, Love People, and God Loves Us. On this special day devoted to love, we encourage you to dig into those commandments with your family, and would like to offer you a creative way in which to do it.

First, draw a large heart on a piece of paper and divide it into three sections, using ‘Love God,’ ‘Love People,’ and ‘God Loves Us’ as headings in each of the sections (use the picture accompanying this post for guidance). If you need a heart template, there’s a link to a great one in last week’s post.

Next, BEFORE you fill it out, have a chat with your kiddos about who loves THEM, and who THEY love. You may end up with animals as well as people on the list, they may think of including God, or perhaps you might subtly suggest it...but whatever they come up with is absolutely fine.

Then, fill out the heart using the prompts below. Your kids may want or need your help adding their responses, or perhaps they’d prefer to complete it on their own, then share what they wrote with you. Here are the prompts to guide each section:

* Love God: “What can we do to show our love for God?”

* Love People: “What can we do to show other people we love them?”

* God Loves Us: “What does God do to show love for you?” (this one is a little bit abstract, especially for younger kids – you might have to share examples of blessings in YOUR life that show you God’s love)

You can make the hearts pretty and hang them up, or just use them for your prayers. Perhaps you’ll keep the hearts, then repeat the activity as your kiddos get older, and see how their responses change – this activity will grow right along with them.

In fact, not only is this activity suitable for kids of all ages, it can also be used by adults as a prompt for meditation or prayer on Valentine’s Day and beyond. If you’d like, you can even make your own heart ❤️

How are you showing your love for God and other people? How is God showing love for you? We invite you share with us on our Facebook page.