“…for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these [children]. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God [with faith and humility] like a child will not enter it at all.” – Luke 18: 16 & 17
One Sunday, after church one of my Sunday School students (12 yrs.) came up to me and said, “I love you.” At that time I recollect I was very low and feeling lonely. These three words refreshed me, I felt the warmth and the genuineness and the weight of loneliness just lift away. That day as I experienced a miracle I also learned, it is so simple to tell your loved ones you love them, and our loved ones need to hear these words many a time.
A life is connected to its Creator even before it is formed (Jeremiah 1:5). From conception to birth, the connection exists in the purest form and it is therefore natural for a child to simply believe the Truth and walk in the Light. As Jesus said –“the Kingdom of God belongs to them too.”
We can learn a lot from the simplicity of this relationship between God and Children
Demonstrate Faith
As adults, the things that we hesitate about Kingdom’s purpose and have inbuilt inhibitions our children fearlessly do. We are anxious about the consequences and cringe at the fact of how people will judge us.
Luke 18:16 reminds us clearly that the kingdom realm belongs to children as much as it does to anyone else. This is because children demonstrate to us, faith in action. If children are encouraged to do what Jesus did they will boldly go forth and do so. When we make Jesus real in their lives nothing stops them from telling about Jesus to their friends. How many times have you seen your child fearlessly speak about Jesus to a non-Christian?
This is the kind of faith that Jesus wants us to have, simply believe His word and do accordingly and there is no one better than our children to teach us to put our faith into action.
Love One Another
In today’s world, like the world, we find it difficult to love others selflessly and we expect the same from others. We love others for personal interests and when anyone does something in love we search for selfish motives.
Children exhibit the Father’s heart and love easily. They respond to love in love. They don’t doubt or run away from anyone who treats them in love. They are honest and openly speak what is in their heart. And even if the truth is bitter when they say it, it doesn’t hurt. Why? Because it comes from a pure heart that doesn’t have any negative intentions within.
God is love and has made each one of us in love therefore it is in our nature to love but we have got to make that choice to love others as God loves us. Unknowingly our children teach us to love others with no strings attached.
Forgive Easily
Forgiveness is the most crucial thing that can catapult you into your blessing. We all know this and yet there are many times we find it difficult to forgive the ones who wrong us.
Look at children, at one moment you see them quarreling, be it with their siblings or friends, the next moment they patch up and are back to playing. Even the times when parents fail to keep their promises we see children running up to them and hugging them. As parents we easily distract them from the promise and reconcile with them, why? Because children readily trust us and move on.
The simple truth of forgiveness is as easy as a child forgives. Unforgiveness is like clinging to the chains that are binding you. Like children lets us release the ones who have wronged us without thinking about justice. Forgive like a child forgives and let go of the situation for God to take vengeance.
Be Teachable
There is no age to learn. Learning is progressive and doesn’t stop with age. The more you are open to learning the more you grow. If you feel stagnant then you are not learning. Many of us have closed our sleeves to be teachable because we believe we know it all but that is not true.
Where else can we learn this better than from our children? Children are amazing learners because their hearts are teachable. They are eager to learn something new and learn from whoever teaches them. We see them learn from teachers and also from their friends. They hold no inhibitions.
Every day is an opportunity to learn something new it is for us to be alert and teachable.
One can challenge the above-mentioned points by saying we see children doing otherwise. They hate, they are unforgiving and they are at times not teachable. Yes, that is true and that is because the world’s influence weakens their connection with God and numbs them slowly to the voice of their Creator. It is the Word of God that we teach our children that helps bind the connection between God and our children. As they grow in the Word we see the nature of Christ in them come alive.
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God [with faith and humility] like a child will not enter it at all.” – Luke 18:17
It gets difficult to enter into the fullness of His Kingdom with our inbuilt inhibitions, fears, and doubts. Therefore to receive the revelation of God’s Kingdom, we need to have the heart of a child, who receives in faith and humility.
