Our students are fully known, fully loved and fully His. From their first day on our campus, we want them not only to know this guiding theme of our school, but to internalize it. We want our students to know the God of the universe created them. He loves them deeply. He has a plan and purpose for their lives.
We incorporate these concepts into our daily lessons — and we also partner with parents to help them continue these conversations at home. These are some simple approaches parents can use to help our littlest Lions build a deep and lasting spiritual relationship with the Lord.
Read and reflect
Reading the Bible together is one of the most important and effective ways to help a child connect with God. These are some verses that can help us all understand how God loves us — and how He wants us to love others:
We love because He first loved us — 1 John 4:19
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life — John 3:16
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. — John 15:13
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” — John 14:6
Also read Mark 12: 28-31 together. In these verses, Jesus gives the two greatest commandments. He tells us all to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. That means we are to love Him with every ounce of our being — and that’s a lot of love! Then Jesus also said we are to love others as we love ourselves — and that’s a lot of love, too. Is it really, truly possible for us to keep these commandments all by ourselves? In our own strength, we cannot. It is only through Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him that we can love God and others in these ways. So, the first step to loving God is to trust and surrender — to trust that Jesus’ sacrifice is the only way to God and to surrender our lives to Him. Then, as the Holy Spirit enters our lives and transforms our hearts and minds, we will begin to love others as we love ourselves.
Put into action
Build a bedtime routine that includes prayer.
Regularly ask your child why she is thankful for something God has done in her life.
Encourage your child to reflect God’s love for others. Cut out hearts from construction paper, and give seven hearts to each family member. Have each family member decorate their set of hearts in their unique way. Each day, each family member should think of a simple way to serve someone else in the family and secretly do so, making sure to leave behind their uniquely decorated heart as a sign of their love. Ideas of service include picking up toys, emptying a bathroom trashcan, putting a cup in the kitchen sink, and fluffing the living room pillows).
