Love Your Neighbor

Love Your Neighbor

 

Valentine’s day is coming up this week. We think of kids filling out their classmate’s cards and planning a fun party at school. This is all well and good, but love needs to be something we practice all year long. We tell kids to love their neighbor, but do we show them how to love their neighbor through our actions? First, do we love the kids the way we should? Do we make them a high priority? Are we friendly to them in public? Do we put ourselves in their shoes? Are we helping those kiddos around us who are struggling? Kids have so many hurts that really go unseen or unnoticed.

How do we teach kids to love their neighbor? We lead and live by example! We as adults show them how to love others. Now, I am not talking romantic love. I am talking about showing someone you care for them by the things we do and say. We show them kindness. We love a kid who may seem unlovable. They are the ones who probably need it the most! That one kid who always seems angry, maybe he has a very valid reason for being angry! Maybe his parents are getting a divorce.

We as adults need to listen more and talk or lecture less. Kids sometimes just need to know someone cares about them. Maybe your kid has had a bad day, or they got in a fight with a friend. Or, your child’s friend ends up home alone after school. Why not invite them to hang out at your house until their parents get home?

We take care of our friends and help them when they need. We also help those who are struggling with having friends. Encourage your child to sit with the new kid at lunch, or to play with the kid that doesn’t ever seem to have friends. This is the true act of love. We love and care for someone no matter what they look like or who they are.

There are so many kids and adults who feel so very lonely. Imagine what would happen if we all took time to love on those people. Maybe things like depression and suicide may drop dramatically.  Love is not just a feeling it is also an action.

So, on all the days of the year practice the act of love but also loving those around you. Spread random acts of kindness and get your children involved. Show your kids and others around you that they are loved not just on special days but every day.