I'm Only Loved When I Do Good

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧

This game is called “FREEZE!”

You will need one person who will act as the judge while everyone else, including the adults, will be participants. Have your favorite Spotify playlist ready and some prizes (it can be a piece of chocolate, candy, or other simple rewards).

The participants will dance to the music and freeze whenever the music stops. Everyone who moves while the music is not playing will not receive a prize. Do this until you run out of prizes.

In our game, the prize we get depends on our performance. When you do well in the game, you get a prize.

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

Let’s read 𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝟮𝟯:𝟯𝟮-𝟰𝟯. This is about the two thieves who were crucified beside Jesus.

32 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 33 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘬𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭,𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵. 34 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥, "𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨."

35 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, "𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 - 𝘩𝘢! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 - 𝘩𝘢!" 36 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦 37 "𝘚𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘴! 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧!" 38 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘦𝘸𝘴.

39 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮: "𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦! 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧! 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴!" 40 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱: "𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥? 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 41 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 - 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴." 42 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, "𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮." 43 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦."


It’s amazing how God did not wait for the thief to be good before loving him. God loved him despite his sin. In fact, God loved every single person in the crowd, even when they were mocking Jesus. He is the same with us. God loves us even when we have not done anything good. Many of us grew up thinking that we have to strive for God’s love. But the Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that

8 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴.

Whether we do something good or bad, it does not change how much our parents love us. Do you love your mom and dad? Of course! Because you love them so much, you want to do the things that will make them happy. You don’t do it because it will make them love you more or less, but because you want to show them how much you love them too!

That’s the same relationship we have with God. The two thieves in the story didn’t do anything to earn God’s love, kindness, or grace, but God gave it to both of them freely.

God loves us so much that it was okay with him to send his one and only son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us so that everyone can receive God’s love. There is nothing we can say or do that will make God love us more or love us less, but because we love God so much, we want to do the things that make him happy.

𝗛𝗨𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗘

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗶𝗱/𝘀:
𝟮-𝟲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗹𝗱
● Do you think God loves you? Why or why not?
● What can you do to show God that you love him?

𝟳-𝟭𝟮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗹𝗱
● Why do you think it’s important to understand that we cannot earn God’s love?
● How can you show God you love him every day?

𝗞𝗶𝗱/𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁:
● Do you still love me when I do bad things? Why?
● How did you feel when you found out that God loves you so much?
● What is one thing you do to show God that you love him?

When we love God, we will automatically want to do the things that please Him. So, it is not that God loves us when we do good but when we love God, we will want to obey Him and do good. See the difference? Do you love God? Will you do good to please Him?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬

Dear God, Your love is so warm and so sweet. Thank You that I don’t have to do anything to earn Your love. Thank You for giving me parents who love and care for me all the time. Please help me obey You and my parents and show love to others so that they may know You too. In Jesus’ name, amen.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥

Calvary, where Jesus was crucified was located outside of the city walls in a place that everyone passing by can see. Because the land was shaped like a skull, people would call it “Calvaria” or “the place of the skull.” (source: https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/calvary/)