At that time the disciples came to Jesus, asking, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”2 So Jesus called a child to come and stand in front of them, 3 and said, “I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 4 The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child. 5 And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me.
Matthew 18:1-5 (GNT).
Jesus teaches us to be like a child. What does this mean? First, we should always know that we rely on God and do not trust in our own strength alone. Instead of being selfish wanting this or that, we should live a Godly life and let God provide. A secular adult will often work a job and then want to spend his or her money on their pursuits. They might improve their home, invest in their home, or improve their dating life with throw away money. A Christian adult weighs about investing in the Kingdom(giving to the poor/tithes/etc) vs investing in self. If you have faith that God will give us our blessings at his own pace, we have to make less of ourselves and still expect good things to come from the Hand of God.
One of the cool things about God is that you never know what he’s going to help with next, and good surprises are fun. Children love good surprises. On their birthday and Christmas, they often get all sorts of surprise gifts. They’re fun to open, and if they’re a good gift, they can play with them for hours learning even having fun. To have childlike faith is to like to be surprised by God when he helps out. You never know what is coming next, but you know God has a plan and awesome stuff comes. Even if awesome stuff does not come, and suffering comes instead, we know our blessings will just come and be amplified. The best blessings and surprises come later anyway when we’re in Heaven.
I think I have child-like faith to some degree. I just tell people about God all day and hope he does all the major stuff. I want people stoked and loving and un-depressed. Even my language is childlike because I use surfer speak vernacular. Do you know some people think that becoming an adult is to throw away everything they were into as a kid? Some people think you can’t watch cartoons, you can’t eat kids cereal, you can’t walk on different colored tiles at the mall, you can’t balance on the sidewalk brims, you can’t tell immature jokes. Do you know that being an adult is taking care of the things that matter, and stuff that doesn’t matter you can still joke about? Do you know you can play as an adult? If you think you can’t, you’re living in a mental prison. Break out! Yes, you’re allowed to play and dance and sing.
There is a point where becoming like a child crosses the line. The obvious is not keeping up with your responsibilities. Go to work yo, help your friends, family and the poor. If you check out of life out because of laziness and not out of mental stress, check back in. The more you help others, the more you are blessed later. Working is not a big thing, God gives us infinite time anyway because of his son Jesus Christ.
There are other times when becoming a child crosses the line too. Trolling your friends in a good manner with coarse jokes that don’t insult is different than mocking someone with coarse jokes. In preschool and kindergarten, the line gets crossed often and kids didn’t mean to hurt another’s feelings. As adults, you know the difference between really putting someone down and fake putting someone down who knows you tremendously respect them.
Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal.
Proverbs 12:18 (GNT).
When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (GNT).
There are many other ways of having childish faith when you should have child-like faith. Faking immaturity is funny in certain situations with friends. Actually being immature is never funny. Like if someone cuts in front of you in line, just roll with it and practice forgiving ahead of time. If someone gets your fast food order wrong, don’t yell at them, you might make them not even want to do their job anymore. Also don’t ever road rage. Don’t answer insult with insult or escalate situations which can become a street fight or worse. We should be ready to forgive in advance and we won’t stir up childish emotions. We should be encouraging people in lives, and not putting them down. Curb the immaturity, unless you’re just joking with friends.
Really though, most adults need to know they can play. Some get so all into work and how it helps society that they stop to care about their own well being. Some people can become such caregivers that they forget to care for themselves physically or mentally. You can actually institutionalize yourself in a way if you’re all for work and no play. You have heard of people who live in prison for decades then when they get into the world again, they just commit a crime because they’re intimidated by the world and want walls they are used to. People who do nothing but work and have no play, when they retire, they can’t stand being bored alone in their own brain. So they wind up getting a job at a grocery store as a greeter or something.
Some people can’t unwind because they don’t know how to play anymore. Don’t be like that. Get a hobby. A hobby could be a video game you like, try swimming(with supervision), walking, collecting pretty rocks, writing books, making youtube series on things, watching youtube, studying things on Wikipedia and collect courses online, teaching, collecting things, helping neighbors, or whatever. Find a hobby in addition to your job. And definitely definitely never go, “I am an adult. I can’t play like I was a kid again.”
You might have to really work at it for some, but adults can go grab some kid’s cereal and binge-watch cartoon network sometimes. Who knows what might come next? God’s provision is just as unexpected but reliable. Surprises and a childlike outlook to life that things will get better is awesome. What tech might come out next? Maybe you make something new. Life is awesome with the right attitude. Have a childlike faith.
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