The Gift of Love, 1 Corinthians 13

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 

Can you look up the definition of ‘love’ in the dictionary? The Oxford English Dictionary defines love as ‘a strong feeling of affection’. What do you love? Can you name 5 things that you love? What about the people that you love? Can you write all of their names down? Now, think about the people that love you- how does it feel to be loved?

There are times when everyone feels alone or unloved. Maybe we have done something wrong and are in trouble, or maybe we just feel down in the dumps and it makes us feel like no one cares about us very much. Christians believe that no matter what happens, God always loves you! 

There are many stories in the Bible about God loving people. One of them is the story of the lost sheep. In this story, the shepherd loses a sheep, but cares for it so much that he looks and looks until the sheep is found again. You can watch the story in the video below.

Parable of the Lost Sheep

The story of the Lost Sheep as told at the Jungle Jamboree Holiday Club 2009.

The story reminds us that no matter how many of us there are in St Mary's, our family or the world, each one of us matters to God. Remembering this can help us never to feel alone and always to feel special.

Time for reflection

Let’s think about the people who care for us and show us love.

Let’s think about the people whom we love. How can we show love to them?

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the people who love and care for me.
Please help me to show them that I am grateful and a happier person because of it.
Being loved makes me feel safe and happy. I feel warm inside and special.
Help me to love others so that they may feel that way, too.
Help those people who feel lonely and sad.
May they remember that they are loved by you and are never alone because you are always there.
Thank you for loving me.
Amen.

Hymn

The hymn for our theme of love is 'Love is Like a Magic Penny'
by Malvina Reynolds