Luke 6:27-38, New International Reader's Version

Love Your Enemies

27 “But here is what I tell you who are listening. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who call down curses on you. And pray for those who treat you badly. 29 Suppose someone slaps you on one cheek. Let them slap you on the other cheek as well. Suppose someone takes your coat. Don’t stop them from taking your shirt as well. 30 Give to everyone who asks you. And if anyone takes what belongs to you, don’t ask to get it back. 31 Do to others as you want them to do to you.

32 “Suppose you love those who love you. Should anyone praise you for that? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And suppose you do good to those who are good to you. Should anyone praise you for that? Even sinners do that. 34 And suppose you lend money to those who can pay you back. Should anyone praise you for that? Even a sinner lends to sinners, expecting them to pay everything back. 35 But love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then you will receive a lot in return. And you will be children of the Most High God. He is kind to people who are evil and are not thankful. 36 So have mercy, just as your Father has mercy.

Be Fair When You Judge Other People

37 “If you do not judge other people, then you will not be judged. If you do not find others guilty, then you will not be found guilty. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good amount will be poured into your lap. It will be pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The same amount you give will be measured out to you.”

Objects:

Bring a few objects that children hearing your message might like as gifts: video game cartridges, gift cards to a store, stuffed animals, dolls/action figures, and so on.

Message:

Today, I want to discuss love and how we treat others. A few weeks ago, we celebrated Valentine's Day with hearts, candy, and the word “love” seen everywhere. Have you eaten all the Valentine’s candy that you received already? Today, I want to spend some more time talking about love.

I have some items to show you, and I would like you to silently think about which item you like best. Don’t say anything out loud; think about which item you would like to have or which would make you happiest. In other words, which one of these items would you like to get as a present? Which of these do you like best? Which would you want to have? Why? (Hold up each item individually.) Who would pick this as their favorite? (Hold up one item.) Remember, don’t say anything. Just think about which one you would choose. (Hold up the second item.) How about this one? Who would choose this one? (Hold up another item.) What about this one? Would you choose this one? (Continue until all the items have been shown.)

Ok, now we know what we would choose for ourselves. Now, I would like you to think about a good friend. How do you feel about your good friend? Could someone tell us a little about your good friend? What makes them such a good friend to you? (Allow one or two children to share briefly.). Let’s pretend that one of your friends is having a birthday party and has invited you. I wonder what things I showed you moments ago you would want to give to your friend. Is it a different item? Why? (Allow one or two children to share.)

Now, let’s take this idea of giving a gift to someone further. Think about someone you don’t get along with. This person would not be a close friend. Don’t say their name out loud; just think about that person. Let me ask you a question. Do you love the person who you are thinking about? Now, let’s pretend that this person is having a birthday party. For some strange reason, you are invited to the party. Which of these items would you want to give that person? Would you change the item you would give to someone you don’t get along with? (Allow children to respond. Be careful, as their responses can pose a challenge to your question.)

I know exactly how you feel. Sometimes, when people aren’t nice to us, we don’t want to be nice to them or give them the things we want. But the Bible tells us how to treat all people – whether they’re our good friends or people who don’t treat us well.

In today’s Bible passage, Jesus teaches us to treat everyone with love. Love those who love you. Love your friends. Love your neighbors. Love those who mistreat you. Love your enemies. Love everyone. Does this mean we should give everyone we meet a Valentine-shaped box of candy that says, “I Love You”? No, the kind of love I am talking about means “to offer help” or “to lend a hand.” Have you ever heard, “Do to others as you would have them do to you”? What do you think that means? Would someone like to explain what treating others the way you want to be treated means? (Allow children to answer.) If someone is mean to you, how should you treat that person? Raise your hand if you think you should still treat them the way you want to be treated and love them. (Allow children to raise their hands.) Jesus teaches us that we should always treat people the way we want to be treated. Raise your hand if you like to be treated with kindness. (Allow children to respond.) Raise your hand if you like to be treated with love by being offered help when you need it. (Allow children to respond.) That’s right, we all want to be treated with kindness and love, so we should treat others in the same way. We should always offer others kindness and love.

Remember earlier when I asked you to choose the gifts you liked best? If you treated those who mistreat you as you want to be treated, what gift would you offer them? We should give the kind of gift we’d like to have, even to someone who isn’t nice to us. That can be difficult, but Jesus tells us we should do it anyway. Repeat this verse from Luke’s Gospel after me: “Do to others as you want them to do to you” (verse 31).

As we close in prayer, I encourage you to think about the people you don’t get along with. Ask God to help you to be kind and loving to those people, no matter how hard that seems.

Prayer:

God of love, thank you so much for teaching us about loving everyone, even those who treat us unfairly. Sometimes, we have a hard time loving others, so please help us treat others as we want to be treated. Give us the opportunity to, as Jesus teaches, do to others as we want them to do to us. Amen.

Between the Sundays: Family Conversation Starters

We have added conversation starters to each children’s message series to help spark conversations within families during the week. We encourage families to use these questions to guide them through conversations and subject matter discussed during the worship service, including the children’s messages on Sundays. These conversations will reinforce learning and nurture faith formation for the entire family.

Discuss as a family what part of this passage seemed the most challenging. Are there different responses from different family members? Wonder together why that might be.

Are you already doing what Jesus calls his followers to do in this passage? Jesus asks that we treat others with love and kindness without expecting anything in return. Talk with your family about how doing what Jesus calls us to do makes you feel. Was there an example this week you would like to share?

Talk with your family about a time when someone seemed unfair or caused you pain this week. What was your response? Were you kind in return? Why is it difficult to be kind to people who have hurt us?

If we treat others the way Jesus teaches, we don’t expect anything in return. As a family, discuss how treating others with love and kindness could affect people in ways we might not see.

As a family, discuss what Luke 6:31 (“Do to others as you want them to do to you”) means to you. Watch the VeggieTales video, Love Your Neighbor. What part of the song challenges you the most? What part of the song encourages you the most?

Acts of love and kindness can make us influencers of change. Discuss how those acts of kindness can spill over into our families and churches. How can acts of kindness spill over into our communities? How can your family be influencers of change for the world around you by treating others the way you want to be treated?