This post contains affiliate links. I may make a small commission when you click on the links at no cost to you. Thank you!
I’ve honestly struggled with this one for years. I know there are cute crafts and resources out there to do with kids on valentines day, but I’ve always wondered, “how do I teach about God’s love to my children?” What do I say to them about love? How do we go against the grain of culture that says love is the exact opposite of God’s Word?
Cultural definition of love
Y’all, the worldly version of love is pure wickedness. It is full of selfishness, manipulation, hatred, and non-committal relationships. Here’s a few phrases that the world will use to define love:
- “Be yourself”
- “You deserve it”
- “If they don’t do this, then you should ______”
- “If I don’t feel this way then, ______”
- “I’m not a commitment kind of person”
This is total garbage and is not love at all. The love that this world speaks to our children is all about themselves. What do they want, what do they love, what do they desire, whom do they love. It is all inwardly focused with no looking outward or upward. God is the Creator of love and this “love” is not of Him or about Him.
This is what we are to protect our children from and show them the love of Christ. So what do we teach them about on Valentine’s day? Are we to shun all the activities and ideologies? Yes and no.
Valentine’s day mindset
First off, in order to discern anything from the culture and the Bible is to be in the Word. How can we know how to filter the definition of love in this world from what the Bible says? By being in the Word.
Second, we must engage in culture to spread the Gospel, but must be careful to participate wisely. I’m not saying immerse yourself into any Valentine’s day event without any researching or digging, but we don’t have to hide our children from every single event and activity out there. Again, we can be in the middle and engage wisely. If you’re still unsure of how to do this, talk with your husband or if you’re single, talk to a wiser Christian women for ideas!
I want to give you lessons and ideas on how to teach your children about God’s love this Valentine’s day! This way, you can have an agenda of what you want your children to know when this holiday rolls around. Now, you can look forward to teaching them about the Lord on Valentine’s day, instead of wondering what to say.
Lessons on teaching God’s love
“God made love”
This is a huge reminder for me. It helps me get my thoughts and ideas about love in line with the Bible. God created everyone and everything, which means that God created love. Without God, there would be no love or thoughts of love. How cool, right?
It’s really funny when my daughters say, “I wuv you mommy.” My instant thought is, as they grow older, I pray that the Lord would show them the depths of His love. This doesn’t happen every time, in my mind, but it happens quite often. It’s when you look back on your wedding day and you think to yourself, “Wow, I thought I loved him then.” Then you fast forward, however many years, and you realize how much deeper and stronger the Lord has made the love you have for one another.
Teaching our children that the concept of love came from God, roots their idea of love in the right place. Love was not created by Disney, Hollywood, or Target. The love that our Father made is genuine and true. What could be more beautiful?
“God tells us to love Him”
We remind our kids of this all the time, especially when it comes to idolatry. We remind them that the Lord wants us to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then our kids continue by saying “and we love our neighbor as ourselves.”
Another way I love saying this to the girls is by saying, “God loves us so much. We don’t want to lie to Him, love others more than Him, or disobey Him.”
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
On Valentine’s day, it’s a perfect opportunity for Christians to remind ourselves to love God with every piece of us. God not only wants us to love Him, but we are commanded to. He knows that loving Him satisfies our soul and brings us the most joy. Make sure to tell your kids that! When you speak this to your children, you can show them that God wants their total love and adoration.
“God is love”
We can only love if we are transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This world tells us, in our sinful state, that we are capable of loving others and that we are worthy of love. Friends, don’t buy it! The truth is, only God Himself is love and worthy of love. This is how we are to teach it to our kids.
On Valentine’s day, we get so easily fixed on what we love, who we love, and why we love, but forget that our God IS love. We teach the girls that God is love. He not only created it, but He is it. We can meditate on this truth with our children and pray that their hearts will grow to understand it more and more! Teaching them that God is love turns their eyes from themselves to Him who makes us able to love Him and one another.
People, places, and objects aren’t love. This is what the world will try to teach our children i.e. friends, home, toys, kids, family, pets, etc. We are to show our kids that God IS love. He Himself is love which is a mysterious concept because it’s too big for our minds to grasp.
This so easily ties into idolatry and I’ll probably write a blog about this later, but it’s true! We’ve heard and read in scripture that God made us to worship, but of course we run to anyone and anything else and worship that. The fact that God is love reveals that only He is worthy of love.
Teaching that God is love to our children is the firm foundation for faith to grow.
“God loves you”
Honestly, this phrase makes me cringe when I hear it, say it, and think about it. I think it’s become this ideology that God loves you, so can continue just “doing you”. Which of course is not the theme of the Bible at all. Totally Wrong. It’s literally the exact opposite.
However, even though there is this ideology out there, the phrase is still true from a biblical worldview. God does love us, the sinner and the saint. God wouldn’t have given us the Bible and Jesus if He didn’t have love for His image bearers.
This is one phrase that I don’t think I say enough. I do tell our girls that I love them, but I need to kindly tell them that not only does God love them, but He loves them more than I do.
It’s such a beautiful reminder for Valentine’s Day to teach our children that God loves them so much that He wants them to love, honor, and obey Him. This is why He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He wants us to be able to love Him too.
I thought I would end my thoughts with the sweetest quote from Kevin DeYoung’s book, The Biggest Story Bible Storybook
So Jesus took the children in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. This was the way God’s people had always known that God loved them, that God smiled upon them, that God was on their side.
—————-
I think you’ve caught the theme here, but this Valentine’s Day, let’s help our children shift their focus from self love to the love of God. We can pray for wisdom in this area and you can check my previous blog, Teaching Kids to Pray which offers practical tips on teaching your children how to pray!
Now, let’s go bake all the heart shaped cookies, find all the pink and white heart decorations, and snuggle our kids while we tell them the Truth of God who is the Creator of love!
Like, share, and leave a comment friends! Happy Valentine’s Day!