1John 3:11-24



1John 3:11-24

Scripture: 1 John 3:11-24

Memory Verse: “Little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in                              truth.” 1 John 3:18

Lesson Focus: We love others by actions!

Activities and Craft: Coloring Sheet; Word Search and Craft for 1st a& 2nd

Craft: Love Plaque: Give each of the kids a Love plaque. Have them cut out the plaque and then color and decorate their plaque. They can punch out the holes and then weave yarn through the holes.

Introduction: Ask the kids; “how do you show someone that you love them?” Allow them to give several different answers. Pass out to ½ of the class some candy (we will provide) When you get to about ½ of the class stop and say that you need to save the rest for the next class. As the kids complain…tell them that the first group will give away their candy to the group that did not get any. Now ask the first group how they feel about it. Let them share and then give them all a piece of candy. Tell the kids that today’s Bible lesson is going to help us understand the truth of love and what sharing has to do with it.

Bible Lesson:

1 John 3:11: Loving others!

√ What is the message that we have heard from the beginning?

√ Who told us to love one another? (Jesus) John 13:4

√ Why is love so important?

√ Do you think that it is important how we love others? The Christian message has always been the same. First we need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior. But then how we love others is very important to God and shows our true relationship with Jesus.

1 John 3:12: A bad example!

Example of Cain:

√ What did Cain do? (murdered his brother)

√ Why did Cain murder him? (he was jealous of his brothers righteous offering.)

Read Genesis 4:3-10

√ Why do you think that John gives the story of Cain and Abel when he is talking about love?

√ Do you think that Cain and Abel loved each other at one time since they where brothers?

But John was just talking about practicing righteousness or practicing “right living.” Cain was not righteous before God. He did not have the right heart in loving God or in loving others. He believed that he deserved what he got. So when God did not accept his offering it filled him with rage. God even warned Cain that evil was at his door step and Cain still murdered his brother out of a jealous rage. You see Abel lived a righteous life and because of that Cain killed him.

1 John 3:13: What the world thinks of us.

√ Does it ever feel good if someone does not like you?

√ Why did Jesus tell us that the world would hate us? John 15:18

Jesus told us that the world hated him first so that we should not be surprised when those in the world do not like us or like what we believe.

1 John 3:14-15: No Place for Hate!

A true test to righteous living is loving others.

√ Does hate have a place in a Christian’s life?

√ What does John call someone who hates his brother? (a murderer) Do you think that is rather harsh?

1 John 3:16-18: “Love in Action”

√ How do we know love?

a. by Jesus’ example – Jesus demonstrated His love (Romans 5:8)

b. by Jesus’ death on the cross for us

c. by Jesus’ voluntary laying down his life for us

(John 10:11)

√ How do we “lay down” our life for others? (The word “laying down” does not so much mean the “laying” down but the laying “aside” of something. We lay our wants and wishes aside for the needs of others first. The demonstration of love often involves sacrifice.

√ How do we show love for others?

a. sending them a valentines card

b. telling them that we love them

c. helping to meet others needs with what we have

√ What does he mean by the “worlds goods” (the world’s goods is a home, food, clothing, everything that we have!)

√ What does John mean by “shutting up his heart”? (he means that we look the other way…we pretend we do not see the need…we close our heart to helping.

√ Why do we do that? (close our heart to others)

√ Why does John say that we are not to love in words only?

John is very clear here, that if God has blessed us with “the world’s goods” then we should share it when we see others in need. Love is not just a word! We cannot say we love and not show our love through actions. How we meet the needs of others shows the extent of our love for others and for God.

Someone has said, “Love is the willingness to surrender that which has value for our own life, to enrich the life of another.”

1 John 3:19-23: Heart Assurance!

√ What does it mean to be assured? (A positive declaration intended to give confidence or to free from doubt.)

When we love others and meet their needs we get confidence that we are doing what God would want us to do and this helps us to know that we are walking in God’s truth.

√ What does it mean to condemn?

√ Why would our heart condemn us?

√ Who is greater than our heart?

If our heart attacks us we should listen, but we also know that God knows our hearts and our motives and that He will show us if we are right or not. In Psalm 139:1-6, we read that God knows everything about us. He knows we fail and fail others. But He loves us and wants the best for us. We need to go to Him when we feel condemned and ask for His guidance.

John tells us that we have Jesus’ commandments. What are they?

1. Love God

2. Love others Matthew 22:37-40

When we live this way by loving God and others we have an assured heart to have a relationship with God. We can come to Him and make requests and know that God will answer our prayers with our best interest in mind. John 15:7

The only way to have a relationship with God is through Jesus. When we believe in Jesus then we can love others because He has given us His Spirit to be our guide and to produce fruit in us. One of the fruits of the Spirit is love. God’s love will only be produced in us when we allow God’s Spirit to fill us up so that we allow Him to love through us.

Conclusion: Thoughts to ponder:

1. Why do you think love is so important to our Christian walk?

2. Can you love Jesus and not love others? Why or why not?

3. Is it hard when people do not like you because you are a Christian?

4. How do you feel when you share Jesus with others and they don’t believe?

5. Why was God so hard on Cain?

6. How do we lay down our lives for others?

7. How can we share what we have with others?

8. Do you know someone who is in need?

9. Why do you think that God wants us to love by deeds?

10. Do you think speaking words of love are important too? Which is easier?

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