Quite an odd thing to say, but then again maybe it's exactly the right thing to say. For a while now I've been struggling with the concept of "love"; not romantic love, mind you, but a genuine love for other people. If I were to be completely honest with myself, I see so many flaws in that part of my life. But I didn't want to leave it like that, so I prayed about what I should do, and the Lord led me to youth ministry, the best place to test out your "love" for other people.
Kids are hard to deal with, they're rambunctious, they're crazy, you name it. But if I wanted to know how to truly love people, the way Christ loved us, then I had to put my love to the test, against a demographic that can be hard to love.
Now, I'm not saying I hated children before, but more like tolerated.
But I wanted to love like Jesus did, a love that was sacrificial and selfless. The Holy Spirit led me to youth ministry, specifically our church's middle school group: Mustard Seed which I started going to about 2 months ago. But I want to talk about what I learned in my pursuit of godly love as I served in vacation bible school.
I generally had a positive attitude towards kids, so there was little hesitation when I decided to do VBS, but as the weeks rolled in and it was getting closer, I just had this feeling of dread in my heart; dread and doubt. No idea what to expect because I've never worked with children before, and I'd only been doing Mustard Seed for about a month. I came in green, very green. And yet the workings of the Holy Spirit had already begun because I was, at the same time, really excited.
My kids were incredible, all 9 of them. I don't know what it was but I instantly connected with all of them. I found it incredibly easy to just chat with them and hang out, running around and playing with them, and just talking to them. I laughed with them, smiled with them, played with them, and all that. By the second week, I was eager for Monday and Thursday to come; I couldn't wait to see my kids! Had I found what it meant to love? (at least little kids)
But I thought it was still a bit too shallow, Jesus didn't love us by hanging out. Jesus loved us by serving us. We see in John 13, He and the disciples enter into the house where they were going to take the Passover, and Jesus bends over to wash the disciples' feet, a job reserved for the servants of the house. But Jesus says to Peter, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter . . . If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." (13:7-8) Jesus used this act as symbolism to show us how He would eventually serve us to the greatest potential, by shedding His own blood so that we may be cleansed and purified of our tainted sins.
Hereafter, I did not hesitate to serve my kids, even with simple things: getting them water, helping them with the crafts, cheering them on, getting them excited about VBS, and even joyfully doing some extra work with our Spirit Team. I did not hesitate to get to know them and to pray for them. And, as the Lord was opening my heart, I did not hesitate to love them.
But the ultimate way you can show love to another human being is to introduce the gospel to them, and on one Thursday night, we had the opportunity to do so. One of our church members faithfully shared the gospel during our 15 minute bible time, and each team was given about 30 minutes to talk about it afterwards. I was really looking forward to this. The gospel is the greatest gift to give to the unbelieving and to those whose faith is shaky.
Well, too keep a long story short. I'll just say this: in the end, I can truly say that I love the kids I had this past VBS and I'll really really miss them, I even miss them a lot right now. I even grew to love some of the other kids too not in our group, I find myself really excited to see them. I'm not saying my love is perfect and complete now, far from it. I still have a lot to learn about patience, leadership, and gentleness, other ways love can be showed to kids. But, the Lord has started a good work in my heart, and He will see it through to completion.
I now move back to Mustard Seed, where I pray that the love that the Lord has showed me, and the love that the Lord has taught me to demonstrate, I can truly love those kids in Mustard Seed, even the especially hard ones (which I've encountered already).
What is it about kids that teaches you about love? Jesus, teaching His disciples, takes a child in His arms, said to them, " 'Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.' " Loving a child, who back in those days were seen to be pretty much bottom level in the social strata (easily servants, sex slaves, etc) shows your knowledge of how Jesus loved you, who was at the bottom of the spiritual, heavenly strata also.
For these kids, I want to be an example of love, of Christ's love that He showed to us on the cross. I want them to look at me and see Jesus's love in me. I want them to have a love that demonstrates that they have not been conformed to this world's definition of love, but have been transformed by the renewing of their minds by Christ's blood, so that they may prove that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
For these kids, I want to be an example of love, of Christ's love that He showed to us on the cross. I want them to look at me and see Jesus's love in me. I want them to have a love that demonstrates that they have not been conformed to this world's definition of love, but have been transformed by the renewing of their minds by Christ's blood, so that they may prove that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
We love others because Christ first loved us (John 15:12). What other reason is there to love someone else?
