Normal Action or Love Action?

Did you talk with your kids about love?  Did you ask them what they love the most?  God graciously set it up so I had an exchange with each of my children separately.  What he reinforced with me was that each child is very different.  Their responses were different and had they been in the same room and together in the conversation, they would have been influenced by each other.  I know this inherently, but it struck me how it was an example of how God knows each of us individually and knows everything thought and feeling, just as he knows our kids.

One thing I know about God's plan for my children's life, and my own for that matter, is that they have been called to love.  In John 15:16,17 it says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last....This is my command: Love one another."  God has a journey for each of us that involves loving from his love for us.  But what a concept for kids to understand!  So I did talk with my kids about love and the concept of John 3:16.

My son is an old soul and attends a Christian school, so his answers were mature and biblical but I question how much is truly understood about the love it took for God to give his only son to die for us; people who sin and ask for forgiveness daily.  But we will find out as we move through this month and as his experience with God's love shows fruit in his life.

My daughter on the other hand was more age appropriate in her responses.  She loves her American Girl dolls, her dog and a very treasured possession in the form of a stuffed animal named 'Spirit'.  From there we had a humorous conversation around this scenario, "What if there were a group of people that were sometimes your friends and sometimes not and they had all done something wrong and Daddy asked you to give up 'Spirit' forever so that their wrong would go away?"  Her face curled up in an astonished and horrified manner and said, "Why would he do that?"  It hit home when I told her that is exactly what God did for us when he sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.  He had the ability at anytime to make the choice to not continue the path his Daddy had asked him to take, but he did not stop it, he continued and fulfilled what his Daddy asked him to do.  "Wow", she says.  Big smile from Mom!  Remember I suggested you journal, this one goes in my journal because I know there are going to be things that don't go quite so well, mostly because I know my daughter, but I do not underestimate my God.

The love referred to in John 3:16 in the Hebrew is agape.  "Agape is generally assumed to mean moral goodwill that proceeds from esteem, principle, or duty rather than attraction or charm." Tyndale Bible Dictionary  In this form love (agape) is a moving, an action, a decision, not an emotion.  It stems from pure, divine love, but results in an action.  The concept of love might be challenging for kids to understand.  But if you ask when they feel love most often the answer will be: when I play with my dog, when my Mom takes care of me when I'm sick, or when I hug my Daddy.  All of these responses are truly physical action which is oriented in things; I play with my dog, Mom takes care of me, and I hug my Daddy.  A child potentially understands and feels agape love more than adults. I may learn more through this process than they do!  I can, however, provide help and direction on how to extend that agape love into their world daily.

In fact, we are given specific instruction to act in love.  In 1 John 3:18 it says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."  Right there is an example of the perfect parenting blueprint. How are we and our kids supposed to act, well we don't need a big parenting book to tell us, we know, we are to act in love, plain and simple.  But not so easy, right?   What does love in action look like for our kids?  Depending on their age it may, and probably will be, quite different.  How can we get them to look at the situations they encounter daily and act in love in those situations instead of out of frustration, sadness, anger or, best yet, competition?  How can they act out in love and show Jesus' love to those around them so they are set apart for his purpose and his plan for their lives?  And what if all our kids did do just that?  Would our schools slowly change?  Would our world begin to change its trajectory?

I know I am just a mother who wants the best for her kids and that includes attempting to equip them in the fruits of the spirit, the armor of God, and help them find their way in the world by looking to God as their center.  1 John 4:16 says, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."  So we move forward and talk to our kids more and more about love and encourage them to seek opportunities to act in love as Jesus acted in love for us when he gave his life.

We have taped John 3:16 on our bathroom mirrors and are beginning a challenge.  We are asking each day, how often did you stop and act in love today?  This is not a competition, but a way for my kids (and myself) to think throughout the day of ways to change our normal action to a love action.  I love (not agape) the words from a Brandon Heath song that say:
Someday I'll pass through the great sky above,
And the first thing I'll ask is how well did I love?
Did I leave the world any better than it was before?
Of all the things I've done, could I have done anymore?
From "As Long As I'm Here" by Brandon Heath

I want to be able to state that and I want my children to be able to do the same. 

By His Grace