Love Like Jesus

I walk into the classroom of squirming bodies in the middle of a hot morning here in Macas, Ecuador, and try to bring the class to order for an English lesson. The co-teacher and I have included John 3:16 as the new Bible verse and a song called “I have a friend who loves me” to kick off a new unit and get ready for some Valentine’s Day activities. The students are hot and not very interested in learning a new Bible verse, let alone in their second language. The song is more interesting to them, but they crowd around the small computer to watch the video instead of working on learning the motions. I end up stopping the song early and directing them back to their seats to start another activity before someone gets pushed or hurt.

“God, you have given me this room of kids to teach, please give me wisdom and help me to love them like you do,” I pray.

I ask them some questions about what kind of activities they liked in the last unit and many of them said they like “projects.” Yes, we will do projects, lots of projects in this unit.

My unruly six-year-olds are created in the image of God, but unfortunately, they also have sinful natures, and many don’t want to be told what to do. To teach English to this class, I need to have rules about what they can and cannot do in order to help them learn. There are also two students on the autism spectrum in the class and they need adapted activities to learn.

The Jesus who God gave to them, whom we are learning about in John 3:16, loves all of us so much that he doesn’t want us to perish, He wants to give us life that will last forever. As I repeat the verse with my class, I am reminded of the truth of a God who gave and continues to give us His love continually. Many students don’t learn about Jesus’ love at home and, despite how unruly they are at times, our school is a safe place where they learn more than academics.

Daily we choose to love these children, daily we choose to give, we choose to love, not as selflessly as Jesus, but that is our aim. Daily we teach them more about a God who gave his son, and about Jesus who gave everything for them.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I challenge myself and each one of you to embrace the love that God gave, embrace the love of Jesus, a selfless kind of love. I pray that we will ask God for wisdom each day in our interactions with people and our daily tasks, for wisdom in living a life of love where God has us.