Before class, look up the lyrics to one of your favorite secular love songs (if you type “lyrics” and the title to your song in your search engine, the lyrics will come up). Make a list of all of the things that this song tells you about love or the overall message it presents about love. You will use this as an example during the first activity during class. If your class is meeting online, invite students to bring paper and pens/pencils to class.
Greet your students as they enter. While everyone is getting settled, hand out writing supplies (or invite students to have those items ready at home). Ask your students to think of a popular love song that they enjoy listening to. Have them write down how love is described in the song. What does the song tell them about love? Use your example to show them how to do this.
Once everyone has had a chance to think and write, have your students share what they found and write a comprehensive list (including yours) on the whiteboard or screenshared document. Discuss which ideas are most common (example: love makes you feel good, your self-worth is defined by the person loving you, love doesn’t last, nothing matters but the one you love, etc.).
Share this video with your students [6:10; stop at 2:58]:
What Is Love?
- What are some of the things said about love from the video that stood out to you? (Answers will vary. Add these to the list on the whiteboard or screenshared document.)
- How would you define love? How would it differ from the song lyrics or comments we just heard? (Allow students to brainstorm. Write their answers on the board.)
- What are some ways that people show love in our culture? (Doing nice things for each other, giving gifts or flowers, etc.)
Be sure to save the responses on the whiteboard for Step 4.
Our world defines and shows love in many different ways. Some ways are good, some ways might not be so good. The movies we watch and the songs we listen to have a lot to say about love. Some of it is right, some of it is wrong. God has a lot to say about love too. In fact, the Bible gives us a very clear definition of God’s kind of love. Let’s see how God’s love compares to our definition of love.
