Lessons of Love

The Bible's list of love lessons is long.

God's love for us, our love for God, love for our neighbors, love for our enemies, unmerited love, unending love... If there's ever a time when you want to quiet the room and have every child soaking in what you have to say, it's when you're teaching one of these foundational lessons on love. How can we cup the chins of our children and hold their gaze as we move from the beginning of our lesson to a dynamic ending where we present love's message in a way they'll never forget?

The broken and mended heart illusion can help us do just that.

I learned this trick at a workshop I attended years ago. It's my go-to object lesson when I want to hold the group's attention while encouraging them to think about what it means to love. Take a peek at this video of my sample presentation. See if it amazes you too!

How did you do that???

Watch this video for directions that take you behind the scenes!

It's important to let the children know the mended heart presentation is an illusion. God's love is not a trick. It's not an illusion. God's love is REAL!

Remember to keep the trick your secret! Children will beg to know how you did it, but if word gets out, you'll never be able to use it again, and you will want to use it for other love lessons in the future. Scroll down to find several lesson suggestions that use various scriptures love-themed scriptures.

Lesson Suggestions for Love-Themed Scriptures

God’s Love

John 3:16 For God so loved the world....

Hold up the heart and describe the perfect Garden God created. Tear it in half when you explain how Satan’s lie brought sin into the world. Because of Adam’s sin, God’s perfect relationship with man was broken.

Remind the children that Adam and Eve had to leave the perfect Garden because God couldn’t be in the presence of sin. As you tear the heart, name ways sin affected our broken world: sickness, fear, loneliness, illness, death…. Worst of all was our broken relationship with God.

But God loved us so much that He provided a way to take away our sins. Unfold the heart while presenting the Gospel message. Invite the children to read the verse, John 3:16, with you.

Do Unto Others

Luke 16:31 Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

Hold up the heart and challenge children to name various examples of behavior that are hurtful. Demonstrate the pain that results by tearing off a piece for every example named.

After naming behaviors that are hurtful, help children come up with behaviors that are loving. Fold the remaining border over torn pieces to hem them in while talking about ways we can show love.

Unfold the heart to reveal the words of Luke 16:31. By encouraging a moment of self-reflection, children are more likely to stop and think of how their words and behavior affect others when faced with everyday situations. Challenge them to remember this verse and to treat others the way they want to be treated.

Forever Love …Others may fail us, but God’s love is forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Psalm 52:8  But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.

Tear the heart and talk about moments when the children may have felt they lost the love of people who were important to them.

• A neighbor who was your best friend moves away. He never calls, writes, or comes back to visit.

• Your soccer teammates get mad because you missed making the winning score.

• Your friends stopped playing with you when they found other friends with better toys.

• Everyone tells you how smart you are because you always get smiley faces on your school worksheets. Your last sheets have frowny faces. You wonder if the people you love will still love you.

Fold the heart back as you describe God’s forever, never-failing love.

Forever Love…God’s love is a forever love, even when we fail Him.

Psalm 103:12   As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Tear the heart while listing some of the regretful behaviors and circumstances that make us feel as if we can never overcome the division between Christ and us. Does God still love us “even when….” Fold it back up while quoting or explaining the truths of Psalm 103:12.

Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27b-28  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 

Tear the heart while giving an example of a time you were wronged by another person. Explain how your heart was broken. Tear pieces as you describe all the ways you might have retaliated. Fold it back up while explaining the way Jesus tells us to respond. Quote or explain the truths of Luke 6:27-28.

Love is…

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.

Show the whole heart and ask the children to think about what it means to love someone. When we use words that say, “I love you”, do our actions say the same?

Tear the heart as you give examples of behaviors that aren’t loving, such as disobeying parents, bragging to friends about your achievements, and getting angry when it’s taking longer than you think it should take for you to have a turn.

Quote or explain the truths of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a while folding the heart back together. Hold up the repaired heart and remind the children of what true love is.