Childlike

I was recently thinking about the different aspects of childlike-ness in the realm of faith. Three different things keep coming to mind.

The first is the need to put childish things behind. "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." (1 Corinthians 13:11) To be honest, I always kind of cringed when I read this verse. A part of me has always wanted to be like Peter Pan and just rock childhood forever, but when you really think about it growing up in the faith is so exciting. Becoming who you are, going onto the next chapter. Think of David as a shepherd (awesome. Fought bears and lions. Winner.) and then David as the warrior king (again - awesome). If he would have refused to go onto what God had next and instead stayed in his childlike existence he would have missed out on the call God had for him.

The second idea on my mind is the importance of childlike faith - even as we are putting our childish ways behind us. How do we hang onto unquestioning childlike faith as we grow up in our faith? I think it comes from knowing who you are. If we have confidence in the fact that we are God's children, that we are known, loved, and accepted, then we can trust in God's strength and goodness. I imagine a little child who has so much faith that their mom or dad will be their for them. They run to them to tell them everything after school, they go to them when they are hurt or scared and know they will be taken care of right away. They trust in their parents and love to be with them.

 

Pure joy and delight.

 

The last thing I just recently started thinking about. It's less about us and more about God's view of children. I teach the 2-4 year old Sunday School class at my church and every week one little girl is so excited to show her mom and dad her craft and every week they give her a huge smile and look at it (no matter what awkward craft her teacher has come up with) and say how wonderful it is. Their faces are filled with joy to see their daughter. I cannot even handle thinking about God looking at me the same way, but He does. He looks at all of His children with joy and love. He delights in us. One of the blessings of childlike faith is the ability to go to the Father and receive His love. If we busy ourselves trying to struggle through life and faith on our own rather than trusting Him we miss out on the blessing of resting in His love as a child rests in the love of their parent.

I've actually had the nickname Pan for a few years now. I'm not actually sure if it's because I have short hair or because I'm pretty good at acting like a child. Either way, if I never grow up completely - I think I'm ok with that.

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I found this article while I was looking for a verse earlier. It's pretty awesome and address childlike faith far better than I could.

 

Childlike Faith VS Childish Faith