THE MESSAGE
We began the night with breaking up into groups of 3 to 5 to answer the question, “What is man’s greatest craving? What is his greatest motivation in this world?” Of course with middle school students you get answers like steak, football, dancing, X-Box 360 and ice cream. Others answered, “Making money and being successful.” After everyone gave their idea of man’s greatest desire I explained to them that his greatest craving in life is to give and receive love. If you look at the majority of music, movies and books they are about love. If you think about why men are willing to risk their lives in war it is because the most valuable thing to them is love for their families and friends.
To help everyone understand this I asked, “When do you try harder—when people you don’t know are watching, or when your parents and closest friends are watching you play basketball, or dance?” You will usually always try harder when your parents are watching you. Why is this? It is because you feel love. Deep down inside we all have a deep desire to pursue love.
I then asked, “If man’s greatest craving is love, then what is love?” It seems almost impossible to define. The world has been trying to define it for thousands of years but still cannot explain it. Love is a mystery. There are no words to completely define it. We don’t know how to define or truly describe it, but we must have it. Erwin McManus says, “We cannot live unaffected by love. We are most alive when we find it, most devastated when we lose it, most empty when we give up on it, most inhumane when we betray it, and most passionate when we pursue it.”
Following this I asked, “What is this mystery—this conspiracy theory? It’s like we’ve been purposefully designed with a factory defect that keeps us searching for love. Why is there a deep desire in all of us to give and receive love?” To answer this question I read I John 4:8: “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” This is why man was created with a craving deep down inside of him to pursue love. God created this desire to pursue love, so that we would pursue HIM.
The next question I asked was, “Is it better to give or to receive love?” For example, when do you feel better—when you receive a gift from your parents, or when you give them a gift and they light up and say, “Wow! Thank You!” You feel more love when you give and others receive it. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” If this is true, in order for someone to feel love we must not only give love but also be good receivers of their love to us BECAUSE it is when we receive their love that they feel love. When we receive God’s love we are showing love to Him.
Finally, I asked, “How do you show love?” People around the room answered things such as giving, caring, being unselfish, listening, encouraging, etc. I then had everyone turn to I Corinthians 13 and told them what the Bible says about love. To help them understand how God is love I read the verses a second time placing the word “God” in place of love. “God” is not proud. He is not boastful. He is always Perseveres. He never fails...I then explained that God wants us to be molded into his likeness. The closer we grow to God the more we become like Him, and we are transformed into vessels of love. I then placed your children’s names in place of love and told them that this is what God wants us to become. Billy is not self-seeking. Hampton always perseveres. Kaley is not boastful. She is not proud. Tyler always hopes. Emily is not rude. Andy never fails…
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Understanding this elemental truth as a follower of Christ is essential, but it is going to take time to truly deep down inside understand it. Your child may know in their heads that God is love, but it is my goal that their hearts, the deepest part of who they are will come to understand this. This will only happen if they experience Jesus on a day by day basis as they read God’s Word and seek after Him. It is going to take time, discipline, trials and perseverance in their walks with Jesus to understand this. That is what is so amazing about God’s love. We can always learn something new about who He is, but it is up to us to pursue Him. Therefore, I encourage you as a parent to make sure that your child knows what is the single most important thing in life; having an intimate love relationship with Jesus. This relationship with Jesus is more important than sports, than school and hanging out with friends. Hold them accountable in their walks with God. Are they reading God’s Word on a daily basis? Do they have a prayer life? Is God first in their lives, even above school? Because if He is all the rest of the things in life will fall in place where they are supposed to be and God will make you more successful than if you focused on these things above Him.
