Showing Your Child How to Truly Love

     

    As many of you probably have figured out from the tone of many of the articles on this blog, I am a Christian. It is my faith and my husband's faith that helps to guide how we raise our little ones. 
    Jesus said we need to love one another as He loves us and through this love others will know that we are following Him (paraphrased John 13:34-35). This is something my husband and I try very hard to practice, to love others as Jesus loves us. But I have to say copying a love like Jesus' is no easy feat. How can I so give of myself like He did? I mean, He actually died for us so that we could live. He sacrificed Himself. How can I accomplish that kind of selfless love? Well this is what we want and try to teach our daughter. 

    I strive to do this daily, love others, but it's not easy. Some people are easier to love than others to be honest. When someone does something to me that hurts me to the core, it's really tough to turn the other cheek and love them despite this. I have to mention here that loving others does not make us a door mat though. For example when a family member is being very manipulative, it is out of love that we correct them and don't allow them to act that way. 
    The word "love" means so many different things in today's society. If you look up the word in the dictionary it means "affection, attachment and devotion." This definition is a far cry from what it was when the word came about. Truly loving someone is more than being attached and devoted. Loving someone involves something greater than ourselves, it is more than feeling. We can't love based on feelings, because feelings change based on our moods, and based on what the other person is doing. True love, the love Jesus talked about is a selfless love. Jesus actually defined for us what that kind of love looks like in John 15:13. He said there is no greater love than laying down your life for your friends. 
    I don't think we can fully comprehend what true love is in the capacity that Jesus talked about, but we can try. And that is what I want to pass on to my children. The most important thing that we can do in life is to try to be the best version of ourselves. To treat others like we want to be treated and to love others.