Light of the World

Matthew 5:14-16

Our true story comes from a part of the Bible called the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew was a disciple of Jesus. That means Jesus was his teacher. And the word gospel means “good news!”

We begin with Jesus talking to a big group of people. Jesus told the crowd that He wanted them to go out and love people so that they would know God and praise Him. And Jesus really wanted them to understand, so He gave them a picture of a light.


Do you know what a flashlight is? And what a flashlight does? It shines!
light.


Jesus said that when we love others, it’s like shining a light that shows everyone, “Look, God loves you! He really loves you!”


We can love others by helping them, by sharing, and by saying kind words. When we don’t love others, it’s like we’re covering up our light.


Jesus said, “Let your light shine!” And we don’t have to wait to let our light shine. We can love like Jesus! We can start, right now! That’s right. Start your engines, friends! We can go, go, go and be a light and love like Jesus.


Could we share our toys to shine a light? Absolutely. Could we help our mom or dad to shine a light and love others like Jesus? You bet! Could we use kind words to shine a light and love others like Jesus? Of course! There are lots of ways we can show love to others like Jesus loves us!






Bible Paraphrase: “Love each other as I have loved you.” —John 15:12, NIV

Text Truth: When you love like Jesus, you will be a light.



Family Devotional

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In this same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
—Matthew 5:14-16

Our Bible story was about how we shine a light when we love people the way Jesus loves us. And the Bible verse we will learn will help us remember to love people the way Jesus loves us.

“Love each other as I have loved you.” —John 15:12, NIV

That is Jesus talking to you and me. Jesus is telling us, "love each other as I have loved you." When we love like Jesus, we shine like a light. Everyone sees the love! That’s With your family, make a list of ways you can love like Jesus.

Pray with your family. Allow any family members to pray if they wish. In your own words, thank God for sending Jesus to teach you how to love each other. Tell God you understand that sometimes it’s hard, but you know Jesus is with you and will help you love like He loves. Ask God to help you love others by (read through your family's list). Tell God you want to be a shining light of love everywhere you Thank God for His love and tell God that you love Him, too. Close your prayer, "In Jesus' name, amen."

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Some story illustrations are made possible by a joint venture of Good News Productions, International and College Press Publishing Co. Artist: Paula Nash Giltner (www.theglobalgospel.org). The images are freely available for personal, teaching and ministry use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Some story illustrations are in the Public Domain.
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