Actions Speak Louder… Kids’ Bible Lesson on 1 John 3
“Love in Action – 1 John 3:16-24” is a Christian teaching resource that aims to help children understand God’s love and how they can show that love to others. The lesson emphasizes the importance of loving others, not just with words but with actions. It also discusses how we can show our love for God by following His commandments and putting others’ needs before our own. The lesson includes a Bible study based on 1 John 3:16-24, as well as activities and discussion questions to help children apply the lesson to their lives.
- Creating cards with positive messages and loving notes
- Writing letters to God or other people expressing gratitude and love
- Discussing ways to serve others in the community
- Playing games that encourage children to think about and act on love
The resource also provides a list of Bible passages that can be used for further study on the topic of love.
It’s important for children to be loved, and they can usually tell when someone cares for them. As adults, it’s essential that we not only communicate our care but also help kids understand how much God loves them. This lesson emphasizes how we see God’s love demonstrated and how we can pass along His love by showing kindness to other people. There are many ways we can show our love for others, of course. When we do so, we give evidence of our love for God.
Jesus is the image of God, and the evidence of His love for us. Christ gave His life for us. We can rejoice in the sacrifice He made on our behalf, and out of gratitude we should seek to serve others. As Christians, we should aim to love one another, even if it sometimes requires sacrifice on our part. When we give of ourselves to other people, it lives out the love of God.
Some of the activities included in the resource are:
Passage: 1 John 3:16-24
Target Audience: Kindergarten-6th grade
Materials Needed: Construction paper; paper plates; glue; markers or crayons; tape; scissors; decorative supplies; envelopes; note cards; cards or small gifts; Bibles.
Lesson Opening: This passage emphasizes the love God has for us, and ways that we can demonstrate that love to others. It’s a great conversation to have for special “love-themed” holidays, or any day! Kick things off with a thought-provoking activity based on this theme. Some possible ideas include:
- Random acts of kindness: Brainstorm ways to share God’s love with other people, perhaps even in a “secret” way. If possible, work as a group to carry out some of those acts for others.
- Words of affirmation: invite students to write notes or create cards that let others know they are loved and cared for.
- Love languages: Have older students take a quiz to identify their “love language” types and discuss how they can show care for others according to their “languages.”
- Love in action charades: write down methods of demonstrating love to other people (an act of service, writing a letter, etc.) and have students take turns acting them out for others to guess.
- Would you rather… discuss sacrifices in terms of things that students would rather do. Sometimes treating others means doing things we’d rather not do, but Jesus sacrificed everything for us.
- Fruit of the spirit…look at similar Bible passages (1 Corinthians 13, John 15, etc.) and how we can love other people as God loves us.
Explain to students that this lesson, based on 1 John 3 (not to be confused with John 3, also great) describes how we can appreciate God’s love and pass on His love to those around us.
1 John 3:16-24 Bible Lesson for Kids Sunday School
This passage is from the epistle of 1 John (not to be confused with the Gospel of John), in which the author speaks to people about how to show love for God and others. While it doesn’t lend itself as much to acting out, it contains important principles to discuss. You might also have students take turns reading these verses, or read them out loud and pause to explain what is being said.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. -1 John 3:16-18
Jesus has demonstrated His love for us by laying down His life and sacrificing Himself for us. Because of that, we can rejoice and be thankful. We can also copy His example by living out His love with one another. It’s not enough just to say that we love someone. We should act and live out that love by demonstration. We can show others how we care and really live our love for them by acting it out. If we love God, it should be evident in our lives.
Ask: Have you ever heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words”? What does that mean? How can we love with actions and in truth?
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. -1 John 3:19-22
Note: these verses are not telling us that we need good works to earn God’s love. However, our actions and our commandment-following should be the evidence and fruit of the Lord’s love within us. Deep in our hearts, we know if we are following His commands and living out what He wants. Loving God is not about us, but about recognizing how much He loves us.
Ask: What are the most important commands God gives us? (Love Him and love one another!)
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. –1 John 3:23-24
It’s important to note here how the Spirit of God helps us. We are not left on our own to serve others and sacrifice. We do it through His guidance and support. We follow and love God by loving other people. When God lives within us, other people notice! He gave Himself for us and we can give ourselves to His people. We might not lay down our physical lives, but can sacrifice and love and serve those around us in special ways.
Ask: How can you show love to someone today? Who do you know that needs to see God’s love?
It can sometimes become easy to grow complacent about God’s love for us or our love for Him. This short but important passage reminds us that true love is a verb. We know that God loves us and gave Himself for us. In turn, He wants us to care for others that He made. We should be able to demonstrate and live out His love in the ways that we act towards one another. We love because He first loved us!
Close with prayer, asking God to guide us to love and care for Him and other people.