Family Devotional: Love God, Love Your Neighbor

Based on Matthew 22:34-40

Read Together: Matthew 22:37-39

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Family Discussion Starter

Parent shares: “Jesus said the most important thing we can do is love God with everything we have (our feelings, our thoughts, our choices) and then love other people the same way we take care of ourselves. Let’s talk about what that looks like for each of us.”

Discussion with Younger Kids

Parent starter: “Jesus says we should love God SO much—with our whole heart! And we should love other people by being kind and helpful, just like we want others to be kind to us.”

Questions:

  • What’s one way you can show God you love Him today?
  • Who is your neighbor?
  • If you were hungry, you’d want someone to share food with you, right? Who could you share with or help this week?

Discussion with Older Kids

Parent starter: “Loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind means He comes first in everything, not just on Sundays. And loving your neighbor means thinking about what’s best for them, not just what’s best for you.”

Questions:

  • What does it look like to love God with your whole mind?
  • The sermon mentioned that love isn’t just a feeling—it’s a choice to do what’s best for someone else. Can you think of a time when loving someone was hard but you did it anyway
  • There are kids around the world who don’t have clean water, enough food, or anyone to tell them about Jesus. How does knowing that make you feel? What could our family do?

Discussion with Teens

Parent starter: “Jesus connects loving God with loving people—you can’t separate them. If we say we love God but we’re selfish, rude, or don’t care about people who are hurting, something’s wrong. Real love sacrifices and serves.”

Questions:

  • The sermon said that 80% of unreached people live in South Asia, and 40 million people die every year without hearing about Jesus. How does that challenge you? Does it change how you think about your own life and future?”
  • The sermon mentioned that we can do the ‘right things’ but without love, it’s actually sin. Have you ever done something that looked good on the outside but your heart wasn’t in the right place? What was that like?
  • First Corinthians 13:5 says love ‘is not provoked’ and ‘does not take into account a wrong suffered.’ That means not keeping score of what people do to you. Who in your life is hardest to love this way? What would it look like to actually forgive and release them?
  • The sermon talked about how anxiety, fear of missing out, and other sins keep people from serving God fully. These are real struggles. What holds you back from being ‘all in’ with God?

Family Activity

Choose ONE thing to do together this week:

  • Pray together for a specific country or people group (like India, mentioned in the sermon)
  • Sponsor a child through a Christian organization or support a church planter
  • Serve a neighbor practically—rake leaves, bring a meal, shovel snow
  • Give sacrificially as a family to a mission or ministry helping people who don’t know Jesus
  • Write encouraging notes to missionaries your church supports

Pray

“God, thank You that You loved us first. Help us love You with everything we are—our hearts, minds, and choices. Show us who You want us to love this week, and give us courage to do it even when it’s hard. Help us care about people around the world who don’t know You yet. We want to be a family that loves like Jesus. Amen.”

Memory Verse for the Week

Matthew 22:37-39 – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… Love your neighbor as yourself.”