Research shows that unconditional love is the most important part of a child’s self-concept. A study found that a person’s self-concept (or how they feel about themselves) is made up of their “self-worth” and “self-esteem.” Self-worth has to do with performance and makes up a third of a person’s self-concept while self-esteem is created by unconditional love when a person is shown they are valued for who they are. This portion is two-thirds of a person’s self-concept.
What this means is that while it is important to help a child achieve and perform, providing them unconditional love is twice as important a factor in how they feel about themselves.
God loves us unconditionally – no matter what we have done or how we feel. This can be really difficult for families to understand as there is no other love like this. It is really important, however, for us to tell them that no matter what, God loves us all the time. God made a way for us to always return to Him, through His death on the cross: we know this as salvation.
Resource Sheet
Additional resources
No Matter What - parent's sheet
A re-telling of the story on Youtube: