Love Does.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also out to love one another.

1 John 4:7,11

Love, when embraced in its purest form, has the power to transform, heal, and unite. It transcends boundaries, mends wounds, and inspires acts of kindness that ripple across generations. Love is not only a desire, but an inherent need woven into the fabric of our being. It is this need that shapes our actions, choices, and even our moral compass. The power of love lies in its ability to lead us closer to God, for God Himself is love.

A group of researchers in Montreal’s McGill University were doing a study on children who were habitual liars and trying to understand their motivation. So, they took a group of these children and ran a battery of tests to catch them in the act of telling a fib.

Then they read different groups a couple of stories. First one was the classic story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf—the version in which both the boy and the sheep get eaten because of his repeated lies. Alternatively, they read George Washington and The Cherry Tree, in which young George confesses to his father that he chopped down the prized tree with his new hatchet. The story ends with his father’s reply: “George, I’m glad that you cut down the tree after all. Hearing you tell the truth instead of a lie is better than if I had a thousand cherry trees.”

Now, which story do you think reduced lying more? When they surveyed 1,300 people, 75 percent thought The Boy Who Cried Wolf would work better. However, this famous fable actually did not cut down lying at all in their experiments. In fact, after hearing the story, kids lied even a little more than normal. The story just scared them to become better at lying. They simply learned how to get caught less often. Meanwhile, hearing George Washington and The Cherry Tree—even when Washington was replaced with another name, eliminating the potential that a famous person might influence the kids—lying was reduced by a sizable 43 percent in kids.

Why? Well, it is simple – children will do whatever it takes to be loved. God has created in each of us an innate need to be loved. This research shows that. And what makes good parents is not simply whether we abide by a set of parenting rules. But how much we show love to our children. And what makes a good Christian is not simply what roles we have in the church, what programs we are a part of, but how much we show love. For God is a God who first and foremost pours out His love to his own children, you and me in a powerful way.

#GodIsLove #loveourneighbors #unconditionallove #grace