Sunday School: True Friendship

This is a little note we give to parents of preschoolers. The lesson plan was We can choose to love our friends. Bobbi and I are firm in our belief that all lessons should be God-centered and not just action or idea centered in and of itself. For example, we can teach to be good...but two people can be the same "good" externally and one please God and one not. The difference would be in the motivation of the hearts. We need to be "good" i.e. do good deeds, because we want to glorify God, not ourselves, and not for some sort of gain from man. This is a small little note, but maybe it can encourage someone who reads it.

I Can Choose to Love My Friends

From 1 Samuel 14:49; 18:1-4; 20:1-42—The friendship of Jonathan and David.

Today’s lesson is about choosing to love our friends…something we need God’s guidance on and also something we should try to do with a God-centeredness. Loving our friends without a God-centeredness is not the kind of love that is beneficial, but ends up being a false love. When we love someone we want their best. And the best that anyone can have is not material things, or feelings, but rather the most valuable treasure in existence…we want them to have their greatest joy in knowing and loving Jesus Christ.

Our life application is: “I will discover how to be a loving friend. To be the ultimate friend we need to point our friends to Christ in all things. Christ is the answer to all of our trials. The old hymn describes turning our eyes upon Jesus and “the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” We focused on emphasizing keeping Christ as the center of our friendships. It is challenging because they are so young and really have not fully developed long-lasting friendships and probably have a hard time comprehending what it takes…but we pray more seeds were planted in their lives this morning to build God-centered friendships with each other and others God will bring in their lives one day.

Romans 12:10 tells us, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. The brotherhood of that verse stems from us being the adopted sons and daughters of God. And God wants our relationships to be other-serving rather than self-serving. This is true in our friendships and marriages. Outdo one another in showing honor to the other.