7 Days of Love
Something that I have been trying to be more consistent and intentional about is exposing my kids to the word of God. In past months when we ran out of time, or the kids were to hyper and wiggly I found myself shrugging it off and thinking that they probably would not understand what they were hearing anyway since they are only 2 and 9 months. As I started to think and pray more about it, I realized that I couldn’t be more wrong. It is our job as parents to raise up our children in the way they should go, the way of Christ, and it is never too early to start. For goodness sake, if my child can recognize and name a triceratops, pterodactyl, and brachiosaurus, then he most definitely has the mental capacity to listen and hear the word of God. How awesome will it be when he is not only able to name and recognize dinosaurs but he is also be able to proclaim and recognize the word of God.
One of the ways that we are weaving scripture into our household this February is through “7 days of love”. Okay, let’s be honest it was really supposed to be “14 days of love”, but per usual this mama is running a tad behind so we are making it 7 official days with lots of love on all the other days as well!
Essentially what I created for my kiddos, and honestly myself, is a countdown of bible verses to Valentine’s Day. I created verse cards that contain a verse on one side and a number to correlate with the days on the other. I hung these cards above our household chalk board. Each day we will turn a card over and read and discuss the verse or verses that we find on the other side. Every verse has to do with a different aspect of love. These verses are not meant to stand alone but rather as platforms to spark discussion, influence action, and encourage further studying of the word of God throughout the day. I like to be careful not to single out verses and forget to acknowledge the context in which they were written. It is for this reason that I encourage you to open up God’s word and explore the entire chapter/ books that these verses are found in with your own families.
****All the beautiful watercolor artwork was done by the very talented VerisStudio. Take some time to visit her Esty page and swoon over all the beautiful and romantic pieces!****
Day 1: Saved by grace and love
These verses up share the gospel and reveal that the only reason that we, as believers, have eternal life is because God LOVED us enough to send his only son to die for us and rise again. I felt that it was necessary to start here, because this is where all love stems from. We only know true love because we have been truly loved.
Day 2: Called to love God
This next verse shows that we were not only loved but we are called to love in return. In fact to love the Lord is our GREATEST commandment. Not only are we called to love our God, but we are also called to love our neighbors.
Day 3: Called to love others
This verse reiterates the idea that we are called to love others. I love the lone that states that, “all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” People are always watching, and how great would it be for someone to be able to recognize your faith just by how you interact with and love on other people?!
Day 4: Love in action
In my own head I personally summarize this verse as don’t just talk the talk, but also walk the walk. You may proclaim that you love the Lord and have faith, but are you putting that love on display in your everyday actions?
Day 5: What love looks like
The last four days we touched on how we are loved and how we should love. On day five we are exploring a visual representation of what our Christ focused love should look like and the fruits that it should produce. This verse is always so humbling when I read it. Any time I start to feel a tad prideful about my ability to love as Christ I read this verse and I am instantly humbled because there is always someway that I could be loving better.
Day 6: A love that cast out fear
This verse is really in the sequence for my mama heart. It has been increasingly harder for me to watch the news these days. I often feel paralyzed and not sure how to react by the turmoil and suffering that happens globally. This verse helps me to realize that I need to be bold in my love as a response. I was reading one of MacLaren’s explanations for this verse and he stated that we cannot both love and fear the same thing. This hit me hard. Instead of sitting in my house fearful of what is out in the world, I need to get out there and love it with all I am.
Day 7: Do everything in love
I personally feel that this verse is really as simple as it sounds, “do everything in love”. Even though it sounds simple, how different would our lives look if we truly let every single thing that we did each day, each movement, each word, each decision, be done in love.
While the verse cards may end here our exploration of love and God’s word sure doesn’t! I hope that these verse cards will help jump start conversations of biblical love and how we should be living it out in your own homes!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Downloadable PDF files of the verse cards can be found below!
