“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.” Many adults can recite these verses from 1 Corinthians by heart. Paul’s words do not tell us the rules for a successful marriage, though they are often used in wedding ceremonies. Rather, they offer a beautiful characterization of the love of Christ reflected within the community of believers. In this lesson, children will explore Paul’s definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and reflect on what it looks like in action.
Starting off
Begin your time with the children by asking them what the word love means to them. How would they describe love to someone who has never experienced it? Where do they experience love in their lives? How do they know that it is love? Note that love can look and feel different from person to person. What one person might see as love, another might not. And we experience different types of love. The love that the children experience with a parent is different from the love they feel towards their friends.
Prepare to read aloud 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. If you read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a last week, you can recap the message in that reading for the children. If you did not explore that passage, provide some context for this week’s reading. Explain that the reading comes from a letter written by the Apostle Paul. Paul was an important leader in the early church. He “planted” several churches. Those churches looked to Paul for guidance when they went through difficult periods. Because the churches were spread throughout the region and travel was more challenging than it is today, Paul wrote letters to the churches so his thoughts could be shared with them. Today’s reading comes from one of those letters. It was written to the church in Corinth. One of the reasons for Paul writing this letter was he discovered that the congregations was treating some members of the church as if they were more important than others. They were not loving and caring for one another equally. Paul not only wants to help this church understand that they need to value one another, he also wants them to understand what it means to love one another as Christ loved them.
Exploring the passage
Read aloud 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. If you are working with younger children, you may want to offer a child-friendly version in a children’s Bible. Growing in God’s Love: A Story Bible offers a wonderful, accessible re-telling. After reading, remind the children that Paul is explaining what love means within a church community. Ask the children to share what they heard Paul say about love in the reading. How does Paul describe love? You may want to create a list of the ideas they offer on a whiteboard or a sheet of paper so that they can easily keep track of what has been shared. Encourage them to go back into the reading looking for more details. Note that Paul’s definition of love has many aspects to it. Love isn’t shown or experienced in just one way. It is seen in many parts of life and it grows and changes as the community grows and changes.
Relating the passage to our lives
Because Paul’s definition of love is somewhat abstract, lead the children in this art activity to help them connect his words with real-life actions. Gather the supplies you’ll need for the activity: construction or printer paper, scissors, and crayons or markers. If you have access to old magazines that can be cut up, gather those and glue sticks also.
Give a sheet of paper and a pair of scissors to each child. Ask her to cut a large heart out of the paper. (If you’re working with young children, you may want to cut the hearts out for them.) Explain that the heart represents love. Within this heart, each child will create a visual representation of Paul’s definition of love. Using crayons or markers, the children should write and draw elements of Paul’s definition of love. If you’re using old magazines, they can cut out pictures or words that remind them of the love in the scripture passage. These can be glued in their paper hearts. Encourage them to go beyond simply writing the words Paul uses in his letter. What do each of those words look like in action? For example, what does love that “rejoices in truth” look like? How does one show this kind of love? Note that they may not be able to fit all of the parts of Paul’s definition in their paper hearts. They should choose the aspects that they believe are most important.
Alternately, if you’re working with a group of children, you can ask each child to choose one part of Paul’s definition of love to focus on in their art. For instance, one child may explore love as patience while another looks at love as kindness. Ensure that each child has a different aspect of the definition. Then ask them to create a piece of art that illustrates this part of the definition. They can use words and pictures that they create using markers, crayons, and/or magazine cuttings.
When the children have completed their work, ask each to share his art explaining how it demonstrates the ideas Paul presents in his letter. You can hang these somewhere in the church where others can see them, take pictures to include in a church newsletter or encourage the children to hang them in their homes.
