Preteen Valentine’s Day Bible Lesson: We Love Each Other as God Loves Us
On Valentine’s Day, preteens absorb a lot of messages about what love is. Movies and television show them one type of love. And the local grocery store—full of giant stuffed animals and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate—shows them a different brand of love. This Valentine’s Day, make sure your children’s ministry kids walk away experiencing God’s perfect love for them using this Valentine’s Day Bible lesson.
Prepare for Your Preteen Valentine’s Day Bible Lesson
God’s love is infinite. Unconditional. Limitless. He’s the very definition of love. He showed the depth of his love by sending his Son as a sacrifice for our sins—the very thing that separated us from him. Is it possible for us to love others in the same way? It can be challenging to show love to those who frustrate us, hurt us, or are different from us.
The truth is, it’s impossible to show that kind of love to others throughout our own efforts. The only way to love others the way God loves us is through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we love God with all our heart, his love shines through us and touches others. As you teach kids about loving others, encourage them by continually pointing back to the one who loved us first. Encourage them to show God’s love to others this Valentine’s Day.
Scripture Foundation:
- 1 Peter 1:22—God wants us to love each other as brothers and sisters.
- 1 John 4:8-12—God loves us so we can love others.
- John 13:34—Jesus tells us to love others as he loved us.
Establish the Foundation: On One Condition
You’ll need:
- small toys or trinkets (such as stickers or pencil toppers), 2 per preteen
Welcome kids, and announce that you’ve brought a special treat in honor of Valentine’s Day.
Have kids form two lines. Alternating between lines, ask kids to step forward one at a time to get a treat. Randomly ask some of the kids to do something to get the treat, such as sing a song or do jumping jacks. Other times, just give the treat freely. Be sure not to do the same thing for each in line; change it up so kids don’t know what to expect.
After everyone has had a turn, have kids sit down.
Ask:
- What was this experience like for you?
- What was it like when you had to work for your treat?
- What are some things people do to make their friends work for the treat of their friendship—instead of just giving friendship?
Say: It might seem strange to set up conditions for friendship, but we sometimes do this to one another. I have another toy to share. This time, though, you don’t have to do anything at all to get it.
Give each person a small toy.
Ask:
- Explain why you think we sometimes put conditions on giving our love or friendship.
- Describe the conditions, if any, you think God puts on his love for us.
Say: Today we’re going to discover what the Bible says about God’s unconditional love.
Present the Bible Foundation for this Valentine’s Day Bible Lesson
You’ll need:
Have kids form pairs, and give each pair a sheet of paper, a pen, and a Bible. Then read aloud 1 Peter 1:22.
Say: We’re going to do a quick Bible study. I’m going to give each pair a different word from this verse. Partners will work together to come up with synonyms—words that mean the same thing as the word I give you. You’ll have two minutes to write as many words as you can come up with.
Give each pair one of these words (it’s OK for multiple pairs to have the same word): cleansed, sins, obeyed, sincere, love, deeply.
After two minutes, call kids together. Ask each pair to tell how many words they came up with. Congratulate everyone for their work.
Once again, read aloud 1 Peter 1:22 below and pause where indicated to let kids fill in their synonyms.
“You were cleansed (pause) from your sins (pause) when you obeyed (pause) the truth, so now you must show sincere (pause) love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love (pause) each other deeply (pause) with all your heart.”
Ask:
- What did the words you came up with teach you about what this verse means?
- What did our Bible study tell you about how God wants us to love one another?
- Tell about a time you felt this sincere kind of love from someone.
- How is this love different than the type of love we usually hear about on Valentine’s Day?
Say: The Bible tells us to love each other. Sometimes that might seem like a challenge.
Do the Math
You’ll need:
- Bibles (1 per preteen)
- bowl of jelly beans in assorted colors
- poster board
- marker
Set out a bowl of jelly beans. Have kids call out their favorite color of jelly bean and form groups with kids who share a favorite color. Then give each person any jelly bean other than their favorite color and ask them to eat it. As kids eat, have them share about a time it was hard for them to love someone (without naming names).
Ask:
- What did you think when you got stuck with a jelly bean you didn’t especially like?
- What have you done when you’ve gotten stuck spending time with a person you don’t like?
Say: Giving sincere love to one another can be challenging. But it’s something God expects us to do. In fact, God has shown us what true love adds up to.
Read aloud 1 John 4:8, and write this equation for God’s love on a piece of poster board:
Anyone – love = someone – God.
Say: Let’s see if we can do the math again about God’s love for verse 9.
Read aloud 1 John 4:9, and then write on the poster board…
God + love + Jesus = eternal life.
Now challenge kids to “do the math” as you read 1 John 4:10-12 one verse at a time and then write down suggested ideas on the poster board. It’s OK if kids come up with different things.
Talk About It
Ask:
- What did you learn about God’s love from this Bible study?
- What does this mean: “Anyone who does not love does not know God”?
- How can you practically show God’s love to others on Valentine’s Day.
Say: It can be challenging to love others unconditionally, especially when they hurt us or make us mad. But even though we sin and do wrong things, God sent his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as a sacrifice to pay the price for our sins. We didn’t deserve that kind of love from God, and we can’t earn it. It’s unconditional. God did it simply because he loves us. When we love God with all our heart, he helps us show that same love to others. And Jesus says…
Read aloud John 13:34.
Pray: Dear God, thank you so much for loving us. You know everything about us—when we do right and when we do wrong—and you still love us unconditionally. Help us follow your example and love others as you love us this Valentine’s Day and every day. In Jesus’ name, amen.
This lesson is adapted from Group’s 13 Most Important Bible Lessons for Kids About Loving Each Other.
Looking for more Valentine’s Day lessons? Check out these ideas.
