WARM-UP
Q: What are some things that you love? Why do you love it?
Q: Who are some people that you love? What makes you love them?
“This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” —John 15:12
Jesus is giving a command – love others. How hard is that to do? Show me on a scale of 1-5.
WORKOUT
Remember last week we talked about how we get to choose if we follow Jesus’ commands or not. Today we have one of Jesus’ commands and it is an important one. Loving others doesn’t seem like a hard thing to do.
Picture this with me, you’re at the concession stand after a terribly long and hot game. You don’t have any money; there’s no water fountain and you forgot your ice cold drink at home. You’re so thirsty you couldn’t take another step, let alone play another game. You’re in line, wanting that ice cold water so bad, but you know you don’t have any money to pay for it, so you start to walk away. Before you get too far, a teammate comes running up to the concession stand with the most beautiful dollar you ever saw and says, “Here, take this!” Wow! This teammate really loves you.
But, this is the teammate you were mean to throughout the whole game. Why would they help you after you were so mean? Did you love them?
That is what it looks like to love others as Jesus loves us. You help someone even if they were mean to you. That is also what Jesus did for us. We couldn’t do anything to buy or earn forgiveness for our sins, but what we can do is accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation (we talked about that in week 2).
Q: What would it look like for you to love others like Jesus loved you?
Maybe for you it means not trying to be first in everything. Maybe it looks like you giving your friend a chance to try before you take over. Maybe it looks like you helping a teammate get better at a skill that you’ve already mastered instead of you moving on to learn another one. Maybe it looks like you sharing your snack with someone who really needs it.
WRAP-UP
Loving our teammates is not a hard thing to do especially if we are on Team Jesus. Make it your goal this week to show love to a classmate and teammate who you don’t normally interact with.
Let’s pray!
“Lord, we want to obey this command. Shape us into loving people. Help us to love even those who are difficult to love. Show us how to love. Thank You for loving us. Keep us safe as we practice and compete. In Jesus’ name, amen.”