Devotion

Fruits of the Spirit: Love

"Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other." - 1 Thessalonians 4:9

Have you ever noticed how love is a word we use for almost everything? We love our favourite food, we love a great movie, we love the weekend. But somewhere in the middle of all that, the word can start to lose its weight.

In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul says something remarkable. He tells this young community of believers that they don't need anyone to teach them how to love one another — because God himself has already taught them. The kind of love Paul is talking about isn't a feeling that comes and goes. It's something written into us by God, something we already carry.

A school is one of the places where that kind of love gets put to the test every single day. It shows up in small moments: choosing to include someone who's on their own, standing up for a classmate when it would be easier to stay quiet, offering a kind word on a hard day. None of those things make headlines. But they are exactly the kind of love God has placed in us — and exactly what makes a school community feel like a place where people belong.

The fruit of love isn't something we have to manufacture from scratch. Paul's encouragement is this: God has already done the teaching. Our job is simply to act on what we know — to let what's inside us show up in the way we treat the people around us.

Reflection

Who in your world right now needs to experience the love that God has placed in you? What would it look like to act on that this week?

This week's challenge: Each day this week, look for one moment to show love in a practical way — not because it's easy or convenient, but because God has already shown you how. Include someone. Encourage someone. Forgive someone. Let love be more than a word.

We love because he first loved us — and in loving one another, we make that visible to the world around us.

Dear God, 

Lord, help us to see others the way You see them - with compassion and grace. Grow the fruit of love in our hearts this week, and use us to make someone's day brighter. 

Amen.

Blessings!

Will Wallace

Principal