All You Need is Love is a single released by the Beatles in 1967. It has become a societal mantra in the subsequent years, giving the impression that this emotion was some amazing post-war invention, discovered by hippies and let loose on the world by the new generation. But the reality is that love has been idolised by poets for millennia.
February is that month out of the calendar where love seems to go a bit nuts. All of a sudden it’s festooned in ribbons and smothered in pink.
Let the children in your life take a deep breath of real love… the love of God.
Knowing we are loved
Guess What? God Loves You – (reading age 4–7) We all need to know that we are loved. Not with a love that will fade or give up, not because we’ve done something special or have been particularly good, but just because we are. We all need to know about God’s love. Inspired by the well-loved words of Romans 8 and Matthew 10, this book shows children that nothing can separate them from the love of God (ISBN 978 1 527 111 974).
Love’s greatest gift
Love Gave (reading age 3–7). Lovingly written and exquisitely illustrated, Love Gave introduces little ones to love’s greatest gift, Jesus, and explains in child-friendly terms how they can become forever friends with Him. This imaginative poem will help your child take small steps toward understanding key Christian concepts, such as sin, salvation, and sacrificial love (ISBN 978 0 736 974 387).
Godly romance
For older teens I’d recommend that they read either Hudson Taylor and Maria by John Pollock (ISBN 978 1 857 922 233) or Through Gates of Splendour by Elisabeth Elliot (ISBN 978 1 850 780 342).
Both of these missionary biographies have a godly romance story within them while also being anchored in the reality of the holiness and love of God.
