RCCG YAYA Sunday School Students Manual 16 February 2025 Lesson 25 – Love: The Greatest Commandment
Click HERE for Previous RCCG Sunday School Teacher Manual
TOPIC —Love: The Greatest Commandment (RCCG Sunday School Manual For Young Adults And Youths (YAYA)
MEMORY VERSE: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” – 1 John 4:10 (KJV)
BIBLE PASSAGE: Matthew 22:35-40 (KJV) (Scroll down for RCCG Sunday School 16 February 2025 HYMN)
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Also Read:
– RCCG Sunday School Teacher Manual 16 February 2025 – The Power Of The Holy Spirit
– Open Heaven 16 February 2025 – Jehovah Jireh
INTRODUCTION: The Bible says “love is of God” and “God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). In other words, love is a fundamental characteristic of who God is. Everything God does is driven and influenced by His love (John 3:16). Our Lord Jesus Christ emphasised this by identifying the commandments to love God as the first and general law, after which He declared the directive to love fellow human beings as the second most important law (Matthew 22:35-40). The Holy Spirit sheds more light on the link between these two aspects of love (1 John 4:20). In Song of Solomon 8:7, love is said to be unquenchable and has more worth than all of one’s possessions because it satisfies as nothing else can.
LESSON OUTLINES:
- Love God.
- Love Fellow Humans.
1. LOVE GOD
The Bible says that our love for God is related to the fact that God first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is also related to our obedience to Him (1 John 5:3; John 14:15). God’s love for us enables us to obey Him freely, without the burden of guilt or the fear of punishment (1 John 4:18). Loving God requires knowing Him, and that knowledge begins with His Word (1 John 2:5).
To love God is to worship and praise Him only (Exodus 20:3); make Him our priority (Mark 12:30); desire Him(Psalm 42:1); yearn for His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), keep His Word (John 14:23; Psalm 119:11); and obey Him (John 15:10; 1 John 5:3). However, this is not a matter of merely following rules and registering good deeds. It is about having God’s love written permanently on our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5).
CLASS ACTIVITY 1: Mention practical ways of showing love to God.
2. LOVE FELLOW HUMANS
We can express our love to God through those who are created in His image – fellow humans (1 John 4:20; Mark 12:31). God’s kind of love is that which is given to those who did not deserve it including our ‘enemies’ (Romans 5:8; Luke 6:32-35). The Bible says that we are to love others the way God loves us (1 John 4:7). We are to love the family of God (Romans 12:10). As we show benevolent and selfless love, we reflect God’s love to a lost and dying world.
One practical way to love others is to imagine ourselves in their shoes (Luke 6:31). Loving others does not mean agreeing with everything they say or do, nor does it mean acting in ways that always gain their approval. Loving others means attending to their needs – both physical and spiritual (Luke 10:29-37). We love our neighbours best when we share God’s truth with them: Jesus alone saves (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) and meets people at their point of need. We love our neighbours out of an overflow of God’s love for us and as a way of demonstrating our love toward God (1 John 4:7-12).
CLASS ACTIVITY 2: Is it important to show love to yourself?
CONCLUSION: The love towards our neighbours is evidence of our love towards God. Let the love of God fill our hearts (Romans 5:5).
QUESTION:
- How should believers express their love towards God?
- Believers are to love one another. Explain.
FURTHER READING:
Sunday: John 13:34-35 (KJV)
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Monday: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (KJV)
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 16:14 (KJV)
Let all your things be done with charity.
Wednesday: John 3:16 (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Thursday: 1 John 4:8 (KJV)
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Friday: 1 Peter 4:8 (KJV)
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
Saturday: Colossians 3:14 (KJV)
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
ASSIGNMENT: Mention five (5) consequences of hatred (2X5=10 Marks).
SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN
- O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
O how I love Thee well,
I am happy, it makes me glad
To rejoice at Thy birth. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Thy friend friendship suits me well,
Both young and will sing Thy song,
We long for Sunday School. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Christ was Thy first teacher,
The Holy Spirit, great teacher,
Does manifest in thee. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
This testimony is sure,
That God, the Father Almighty,
Poured His blessing on Thee - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day,
Though the sun be so bright,
Or if the clouds be black with rain,
I’ll be in Sunday School. - O Sunday School, on the Lord’s day
I rejoice to see Thee,
Will thou pass over me today?
Without my being blest?
