How did God show His love?

He sent His only begotten Son into the world.

Free Bible lesson for kids · Letters to the Churches

God Is Love

John wrote that love comes from God, because God is love. God showed His love by sending His Son, so we should love one another.

Teach this lesson: film, sheets and guide Print the coloring page

Bible passage: 1 John 4:7–21
Big idea: We love because God first loved us.
Memory verse: We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (KJV)
Ages: Preschool to preteen (3 to 12), with tips for each age
Time: About 45 minutes
Included, free: Animated story film, coloring page, class sheet, teacher guide, questions and answers, a game

The story

John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.” Anyone who does not love does not know God, “for God is love” (1 John 4:7–8). God showed His love by sending His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9). Real love is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10).

Since God so loved us, we should love one another too (1 John 4:11). The Father sent His Son to save the world, and His perfect love drives away fear (1 John 4:14, 18). “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Someone who says he loves God but hates his brother is not telling the truth. Whoever loves God must love his brother also (1 John 4:20–21).

Read it in the Bible: 1 John 4:7–21 (KJV)

⁷Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. ⁸He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ⁹In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. ¹⁰Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. ¹²No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. ¹⁵Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. ¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. ¹⁷Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹We love him, because he first loved us. ²⁰If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? ²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Questions to ask

What does John say God is?
Love.
How did God show His love?
He sent His only begotten Son into the world.
Why do we love?
Because He first loved us.

What this story teaches

Love comes from God, because God is love (1 John 4:7–8).
God showed His love by sending His only Son (1 John 4:9).
Jesus came to be the sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10).
Because God loved us, we should love one another (1 John 4:11).
God’s perfect love takes away our fear (1 John 4:18).

Jesus Shows God’s Love

God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

A 45-minute lesson plan

5 min	Welcome and pray. Greet each child by name and pray: Thank God for loving us first.
10 min	The story. Play the story film: each verse appears on screen in the King James Version while the scene plays. Pause to ask what happens next.
10 min	Talk about it. Ask the three questions below. Then ask: “We love because God first loved us.” What does that mean for us?
5 min	Memory verse. Say 1 John 4:19 together, covering one word at a time until the children can say it alone.
10 min	Activity. Younger children color the coloring page while you retell the story; older children do the class sheet (memory-verse fill-in, word search and questions).
5 min	Pray and send home. Pray together and send the sheet home so families can talk about the first question this week.

Preschool: keep it short and physical. Act out the story, use a simple prop, and repeat the big idea in one sentence.
Elementary: let children find the passage in their own Bibles. Ask “who, what, where” questions first, then “why.”
Preteens: read the verses before and after the passage, and ask how this story fits the whole story of the Bible.

Game time

For kids · game · indoors · about 8 minutes

Pass the Heart

You need: A big paper heart, music

Pass the heart around the circle while the music plays.
When the music stops, whoever holds it says, “God loves…” and names someone in the room.
Keep going until everyone has been named.

“God is love.” We love Him, because He first loved us.

For youth group · game · indoors · about 30 minutes

Love in Action Hunt

You need: A list of kind acts (encourage a greeter, write a note to the pastor, clean a table), phones for photos

Teams have thirty minutes to complete as many acts of love as they can around the church.
Each one counts only with a photo.
Share the best stories.

God showed His love by sending His Son. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

Pray

Thank God for loving us first.