Our lasting impression of love is formed by our earliest experiences at home. Home is where we discover a thing called love and how to express it. G.K. Chesterton said that the meanest fear is the fear of sentimentality. That fear can make a home or a life austere. It can create doubts about love. I hope this isn’t a pain-filled question for you, but what were your first impressions of love?

Here are five things about love from the Bible:

• Love is the evidence of God among us and dwells in flesh and blood (1 John 4:16).
• Love is reciprocal, teachable, and repeatable (1 John 4:19; John 13:34,35).
• Love is not a stable condition in our hearts (Matthew 24:12, 1 Peter 1:22).
• Love is self-sacrificing (John 3:16).
• Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13).

It’s not too late to make our homes more loving if we invite Jesus to be a member of the family. His place is set at our table when we

• insist that loving interaction is our family’s priority.
• are transparent about our love for him and each other.
• verbalize affection and gratitude for each other often.
• establish routines and celebrate with traditions that include everyone.
• grow together in faith as churchgoers.
• leave a generous amount of wiggle room for people to grow on their own.

You will be able to see if your family learned to express love when everyone gets together and reminisces.