From the Principal

This week’s focus value is love. The word ‘love’ is used frequently every day…’I love chocolate cake’, ‘I love your new dress’, ‘ I love holidays’ and of course ‘I love Richmond’! It is easy to rattle these sayings off in conversation, but what do we really mean when we use the word ‘love’?

Some synonyms for love include adore, worship, care for, devotion to, kindness, peace, trust, resilience, happiness, have esteem for and honour. Some of these may apply for the statements mentioned above; however, these meanings seem too strong for most of the sayings.

So what does love mean from a Christian perspective? For Christians, the expression of love is always a response to God’s love. It is a way of being that leads to inner peace. Love flows from the heart and manifests itself in caring, kind and respectful thoughts, words and actions.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of Gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

Psalm 136: 1- 3

When you consider a passage like this, the word love takes on a whole new meaning and the synonyms make more sense. The word love now manifests itself in a whole new response from us. In response to the love God has shown us, we strive to demonstrate grace, forgiveness, and compassion in our relationships with others; we are courteous, caring, kind and respectful in our words and actions; and we develop relationships based on trust, honesty and diplomacy.

Our challenge as members of the Sunshine Christian School community is to continue to shine God’s love through all that we do and say.