Series: Love
John 3:16 ESV
I remember sitting in kindergarten Sunday School being enthusiastically told that Jesus loved me. It wasn’t a statement lightly spoken.
My Sunday School teacher was a wonderful kind loving person who always took great care in loving me and caring for me. I knew without any doubt that she loved me and wanted me there.
The statement that God loved the world, included me in a special way.
I also remember coloring pictures of Jesus in Kindergarten Sunday School. We colored pictures of Jesus as a baby, Jesus as a boy, Jesus with his disciples, and Jesus loving and caring for other people.
Once again my teacher talked about Jesus as we colored and told us stories. It’s interesting that my teacher did not ask us to sit and listen as she told a story. She told the story as we colored.
In addition to being a great storyteller, she was extremely relational. She always hugged me when I arrived. She made eye contact with me when we spoke. She told me I was special. And she hugged me when I left.
I think that’s the reason I remember Kindergarten Sunday School.
By day she was a classroom teacher.
I think she was a genius.
Because of her I have known and believed all the days of my life the not only does God love the world, God loves me. She made it personal.
In John 3:16 Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
She also made it so I understood that God loved everyone in the world.
As I grew older that concept was much more difficult for me to comprehend.
I elementary school when someone was mean to me and shoved me down on the playground I knew God loved the world, so God loved them. I did not understand why they were mean and physically hurt me.
By the time I was in junior high school I started to figure out that I was destined to be a small person. I did finally reach 4’11” but I didn’t ever grow to be 5’ tall. Everyone knew I was Irish (because of my last name) and they referred to me as being as tall as a leprechaun. Even though they didn’t mean it as a compliment I actually thought that was awesome!
I kind of thought it was really cool that God loved me enough to give me an Irish name and He made me as tall as a leprechaun.
God Loves me.
God loves me just like I am because that’s what God wanted me to be like.
I still struggled as I grew older with the question about mean people. I didn’t fully understand why people are mean until I studied psychology.
In many cases it’s because they were not treated with decency and respect as a child. They were not loved. No one told them God loves them.
As they grew older, they had little concept of being loved by others or by God. Because they had not been loved, they didn’t know what it was like to love. When they met someone who was loved at home and at school, they wanted to hurt me so I would hurt like they hurt (that’s an example of one scenario).
As an adult when I figured that out I was really sad.
I was sad that they might not have had a loving Sunday School teacher who gave them hugs. I wondered, did anyone hug them? Did anyone look into their eyes and listen to them? Did anyone treat them special?
Those realizations changed my whole outlook on ‘God loves the world’.
While I believe it’s a fact, I realized there are others who will not understand it unless the see it acted out in person.
I also realized that convincing a fifty year old person who has not been loved is not an easy task.
Loving them will not be easy. Gently showing them what God’s love looks like will take time and great patience.
I have come to realize (sadly) that the world is filled with people who do not understand the real meaning of God Loves You.
That’s the task we are faced with.
Everyday, everyone we meet could be someone who didn’t learn in Kindergarten Sunday School the meaning of God Loves the World.
That’s what God needs us to do in our world.
One person at a time, gently love them to Jesus. I personally don’t believe that’s accomplished by screaming at them. I think it’s accomplished through a smile, a laugh, a kind deed, or a small gesture of love.
Spiritual Practice: Love
Ask God to give you one person a day who doesn’t know about His love to love.
In God, Deborah
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