And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3-4
While we would never encourage childish behavior, having little kids around has taught me so much in recent years. They have a pureness about them that the Lord Himself instructs us to emulate in Matthew 18. I have often felt that I am learning more from my boys than they are from me. In many ways they are wonderful examples for us to follow.
Children are willing to listen and desire to learn. I would not dare to estimate how many questions Jonas will ask in a given day. Not willing to listen and having no desire to learn was sharply rebuked by Jesus (Matt 13:15). We need to be more like them, inquire often and thereby grow in knowledge (1 Tim 4:13). They are like little sponges, soaking up information and it forms so much of their outlook, which points to the obvious of being around and taking in what is good (2 Pet 1:3-4).
Little ones will hold to what they have established as true. For example, Wyatt used to love to play a little game where he asked us the color of some object. If we tried to stump him and say the wrong color, he would always look again to verify before objecting. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had the same attitude today? In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 Paul writes, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good”. The Bereans were more noble because they searched the scriptures. They didn’t just take things at face value (Acts 17:11).
Little children truly have a love for their own. The phrase “love one another” appears nineteen times in the New Testament. The love we show to each other demonstrates that we are disciples of Christ (John 13:35) and helps us in lifting one another up (Rom 12:10).
That love turns into devotion (Rom 12:13), a desire to help each other no matter the circumstance, and a willingness to forgive and forget and come together in love and devotion once more (Col 3:13).
By Jason Barger