Kidding around

Garth Heckman

The David Alliance

TDAGiantSlayer@gmail.com 

How many questions do children ask a day, some say over 1200 questions a day…

They learn best by play.

They have a natural tendency to laugh. They can grow rapidly… literally an inch over night. They can learn multiple languages 10 times faster than adults. Every kid feels like they are an artist and creative…. 

How honest are kids? Brutally honest.

Based on key passages in the Bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus and Paul, here are three ways believers are encouraged to be like children:

1. In Humility: Jesus explicitly links becoming like a child to humility and greatness in God's kingdom. Children in that culture had very low social status and were dependent, not seeking power or position.

• Scripture: Matthew 18:3-4 (NIV): "And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child ¹ [or humbles themselves like this child] is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"   1. www.worldvision.org
  
  
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• Meaning: Believers should abandon pride, self-importance, and the quest for status, instead adopting a humble dependence on God, recognizing their need for Him just as a child depends on a parent.

2. In Trust and Receptivity: Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God must be received with the simple, trusting faith of a child. Children often trust readily and accept gifts freely without feeling they need to earn them or fully understand them.

• Scripture: Mark 10:15 (NIV): "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Parallel in Luke 18:17)
• Meaning: Believers should approach God and His offer of salvation with simple, open-hearted trust, accepting His grace as a gift without relying on their own merits or overly complex reasoning. It implies a dependence on God's goodness and provision.

3. In Innocence Regarding Evil: The Apostle Paul distinguishes between mature thinking and child-like innocence concerning malice and evil intentions. While believers should be mature in understanding, they should retain a child's lack of guile and ill will.

• Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:20 (NIV): "Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to malice be infants, but in your thinking be adults."
• Meaning: Believers should strive to be innocent of plotting evil, holding grudges, or engaging in malicious behavior, much like an infant who is incapable of such things. It calls for purity of heart and intention.