A lesson on Showing Love to Others 
Written by: Rebecca Holsapple

Sunday was here! The girl’s favorite day. They were all sitting in the class waiting on Sis. Patience. What would they learn about today? No one knew, but whatever it was going to be, they couldn’t wait to find out.

All the girls looked very pretty in their dresses and with bows and flowers in their hair. They were all chatting with one another when Sis. Patience walked in. “Well, hello girls!! Nice to see everybody here this morning. How are you feeling Bridget?” “Much better Sis. Patience,” she answered. She had not been there last Sunday, she and her family had been sick with the stomach flu.

“Let’s start with a word of prayer, then I will be able to tell you of something I have planned for us to do next Saturday… Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity that you give us to get together today and learn more about you. Please, bless each of these special girls. They have been such a blessing to me and I know you have wonderful plans for each of them. Help us to receive from you today, in Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

“So what are we doing next Saturday?" Chloe just had to ask! All the other girls looked at Sister Patience with anticipation.

“Well first let me tell you what our lesson for today is and then I will tell you what we will do next Saturday. Today we are going to talk about Showing Love to others. What does that mean to you girls?”

“Being nice.” Said Layla

“Helping others.” Said Renee.

“Sharing” said Addison.

“Encouraging and giving compliments.” Samantha said.

“Forgiving” said Bridget.

“Very good, girls! All these things are true! Are those things easy to do?”

“Yes” they all said in unison.

“Always?” said sister Patience.

The girls had to think about that for a minute.

Samantha spoke up. “Well, not always. The other day my little brother Shiloh went in my room and broke my favorite toy  and I was really upset. Mom told me he didn’t mean to and I needed to forgive him. It wasn’t easy. I did it, but it took me almost an hour to finally do it.”

Renee raised her hand and said: “Our neighbor is always blowing his leaves into our yard and we always have to pick them up. I told my dad we should blow them back into his yard instead and he told me that even when people are not acting nice, we need to be nice. So we just keep on raking the leaves even if they come from the neighbor’s tree. I don’t think it’s easy!”

“Those a great examples. In the Bible, in Matthew 22:37-38 it says :” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself “. Do you love yourselves?” asked Sister Patience.

“What does that mean?” asked Addison

“Do you take care of your body? Take baths, brush your teeth and hair? Do you do things you enjoy? If you didn’t love yourself , you wouldn’t do these things would you?”

“No” said the girls.

“Well, you are supposed to care as much for your neighbor as you care for yourself.” Said Sis Patience.

“Does that mean like my actual neighbor. The one that blows the leaves in our yard?” said Renee.

“Well, it means that neighbor but also everybody you encounter, like in the story of the good Samaritan. The man he helped was a complete stranger to him, even supposed to be his enemy.  The Bible also says in Matthew 5:44 :”But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

That means we are supposed to be nice, share, forgive, help, all the things you girls mentioned as ways of showing love to others, but not just to the people we like, the people that do the same things to us. No, it means we are supposed to do all these things to everyone. Even people that are mean to us. It’s much easier to compliment your friend than someone who is grouchy. It’s much easier to share with your sibling than someone at school who isn’t very nice to you. But God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves and even love our enemies.

Now, we need to practice all these things. And I know we all get to practice on a daily basis, at home with our siblings, at school with all the other students. But I thought next Saturday we could go to a nursing home, where elderly people that don’t have much family live, and go visit with them, talk to them and sing some songs for them. Show them some love and be a witness to them. What do you girls think?”

“That sounds great!!” they all said.

“I already talked to your parents and we are all going to meet there at 1 pm. Now it’s time for you girls to go in church with your families. Think about what you just learned and try to put it into action in your lives this week.” The girls all gave Sister Patience hugs before heading into church. They were all convinced she had to be the very best Sunday school teacher ever!

Saturday came quickly for all the girls, who did their best the whole week to show love to those around them.  All the girls were at the door with Sister Patience at five to 1 and they all prayed together that they would be able to be a witness to everybody they would meet and show them love.

The girls walked in and went and stood by the piano and sang several hymns. Several elderly ladies had tears running down their cheeks and two of the men sang along the whole time. After the signing was over, the girls walked around and talked with all of them . Some of the girls sat down and did puzzles, other played some board games and some just listened to stories of years gone by.

Layla was looking around to see who she could talk to and she saw a man sitting in the corner all alone. She walked up to him .

“Hi sir, my name is Layla! How are you today?” she said with her strong Latino accent.  “What kind of name is that?? What is up with your clothes? I don’t like strangers. Go away!” he was not in a good mood and poor Layla felt very insulted. 

She had wanted to show love and be nice and this is how he had responded, by saying some very mean things to her. She looked around to see where Sister Patience, she just wanted to tell her what happened and go home. Layla could not see her anywhere. He eyes were filling with tears.  She just stood there for a minute and thought; Sister Patience had just told them last Sunday that we are supposed to love everybody, even people who are mean to us. This man was not being nice, but maybe he was having a rough day, she could not quit just yet, she had to try again.

 She walked back over to him and smiled. “I am from Mexico. My family moved here a few months ago. I really like it! Where are you from?” He was so surprised to see she had come back, he was taken off guard. “Missouri” he said with an almost shocked look on his face. “I have never been there, is it nice? “asked Layla. “I’ve always thought so…” he said looking less grouchy by the second.

 They kept on talking for quite a while and they got along so well at the end of the visit he asked if she could come see him again soon and she agreed.

After the visit, Sister Patience and all the girls gathered in the parking lot and Layla told them what had happened. “I am so proud of you Layla!! You did the right thing! That was a wonderful witness and if he does not know God yet, maybe he will meet Him through you! Wonderful!”

All the girls were very happy about the visit and they all agreed that reaching out to other was another very important way of showing love. They all promised to each other then and there that they would do this as often as possible.

The End