Children’s ministry leaders talk about love constantly.
Love kids.
Love families.
Love your team.
But biblical love is far deeper than simply being nice.
The Fruit of the Spirit begins with love because love shapes every other fruit. Joy, peace, patience, kindness, and the rest all flow from a heart transformed by God.
Galatians 5:22 says: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And Jesus raised the bar even higher in John 13:34:
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
That kind of love changes how we lead.
Love changes how we speak to volunteers when they make mistakes.
Love changes how we respond to difficult parents.
Love changes how we treat exhausted team members after a long Sunday morning.
Love notices people.
One of the greatest leadership traps in ministry is becoming so focused on programs that we stop seeing people. But healthy ministry grows when leaders intentionally put people ahead of productivity.
Kids notice this too.
Children may not remember every lesson we teach, but they absolutely remember how we made them feel. A child who feels seen, valued, welcomed, and cared for is far more likely to remain open to spiritual truth.
Love creates trust.
And trust opens hearts.
As ministry leaders, we are constantly modeling what following Jesus looks like. Long before kids understand theology, they experience it through the adults who lead them.
That’s why love matters so much.
Not performative love.
Not convenient love.
Real, sacrificial, Jesus-shaped love.
This week, challenge yourself to intentionally put someone else first:
a volunteer, a parent, a child, or another staff member.
You may be surprised how powerfully the Fruit of the Spirit grows when love leads first.
And if you want to help teach kids about LOVE, check out Xtreme Livin’ from itBibleCurriculum.com — it’s a fruitful series your kids will love!
