We have made an intentional effort to pass along the two most important things in this world to our kids… To Love God and Love Others.  We review it daily on the way to school.  While rote memory has a vital role in the life of kids, it started to become too routine.  So I added another element to this question.

How?

How do we love God?  How do we love others?

This is coming directly from Jesus’s mouth in Matt 22:36-40.

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So how do we do that?  To help my kids understand this key teaching of the Christian faith I boiled it down to two simple answers.

We love God by being obedient.

We love Others by being kind.

As we are obedient to God we must also obedient to the authorities in our life.  For my kids that means teachers, parents, rules, and so on.  I want them to understand that as they obey in these different arenas, they are loving God.  John 14:15, Jesus says if you love me, you will obey my commands.

As we are kind to others we show them the love that God showed us.  We are kind to our peers, those not like us, even the bullies at school.  We show kindness because we have received the ultimate kindness from God through His Son Jesus.  John 15:12 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

So let this be a reminder to you today to love God and love others by being obedient and kind in your daily life.