The Bible talks many times about childlike faith, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, we are all brothers and sisters and that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to children. I always wondered why God had so many references to us behaving like children when it comes to faith and our role in God's Kingdom. I started praying and asking God to show me why this was and He opened my eyes to some interesting things. Pride is one of the biggest things that stops us being used for God, and God doing things in our lives. The bible says "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble". Lucifer fell from heaven and became the Devil when pride entered his heart. Pride is based on accomplishment, giftings, possessions and comparison to others. Pride is self reliance. God hates pride because its a deception. It's us believing that we are better than we know and thinking we are now good enough to do things on our own without giving any care to its effects on others. God can't and wont ever use pride. It's nothing but rocks in the clay that must only be broken.
Sadly pride is a common thread many times with the Kings of Israel in the bible where one King would love God, God would bless them, then the next King would get proud and forget God. Pride comes from the devil and is his clever tactic to build tall strong walls around your heart so that neither God or others can help you. Pride deceives us with a false sense of security saying "You're just fine the way you are, you have no need to change, no need to confess or repent, you're better than that..." Here's the interesting part... Little children under the age of 3 years old very rarely have pride. You see little children don't have a lot of accomplishments or experience because they haven't been around very long. They don't have a lot of possessions because it's only what their parents have given them. They can't really earn money or buy things nor do they have a job. They also don't have a lot of giftings that are evident because they havent developed yet. Little children of this age often don't compare how good they are with other 2 and 3 year olds - instead they'd much rather just play with them and have fun. And little children are extremely reliant on the parents or guardians in their lives for just about everything. Food, clothing, being cleaned up, reassurance, guidance, protection - the list goes on and on.
So what I believe Jesus was saying was that we are meant to view ourselves before God in the same way as humble little children that are reliant on Him for everything. For our guidance, our peace, our food, our protection, our clothing and our purpose in life. When you read the Lord's prayer from Matthew 6 with this in mind it makes sense. It's a prayer from a child's heart. I believe we're also meant to love others as children do. So just as little kids need hugs and encouragement, God knows we need to be reassured and loved too. And in the same way little children give love without expecting anything in return. They don't manipulate others using the name of 'love' to get things or gain public favour - they just love freely and purely out of natural need to be loved. This is why the verse says "we cry Abba Father!". It's not just a poetic phrase or a great illustration - it's how we are actually meant to behave towards God. Just like a defenseless baby cries out for food and reassurance so we are to cry out to God our Father who loves us for everything we need. And because of His enormous and radical love for us, He responds and gives to us in love. God loves you. I pray for you today that He blesses you and draws your heart to Him and His great love.
[ Romans 8:15 - So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." ]
Sadly pride is a common thread many times with the Kings of Israel in the bible where one King would love God, God would bless them, then the next King would get proud and forget God. Pride comes from the devil and is his clever tactic to build tall strong walls around your heart so that neither God or others can help you. Pride deceives us with a false sense of security saying "You're just fine the way you are, you have no need to change, no need to confess or repent, you're better than that..." Here's the interesting part... Little children under the age of 3 years old very rarely have pride. You see little children don't have a lot of accomplishments or experience because they haven't been around very long. They don't have a lot of possessions because it's only what their parents have given them. They can't really earn money or buy things nor do they have a job. They also don't have a lot of giftings that are evident because they havent developed yet. Little children of this age often don't compare how good they are with other 2 and 3 year olds - instead they'd much rather just play with them and have fun. And little children are extremely reliant on the parents or guardians in their lives for just about everything. Food, clothing, being cleaned up, reassurance, guidance, protection - the list goes on and on.
So what I believe Jesus was saying was that we are meant to view ourselves before God in the same way as humble little children that are reliant on Him for everything. For our guidance, our peace, our food, our protection, our clothing and our purpose in life. When you read the Lord's prayer from Matthew 6 with this in mind it makes sense. It's a prayer from a child's heart. I believe we're also meant to love others as children do. So just as little kids need hugs and encouragement, God knows we need to be reassured and loved too. And in the same way little children give love without expecting anything in return. They don't manipulate others using the name of 'love' to get things or gain public favour - they just love freely and purely out of natural need to be loved. This is why the verse says "we cry Abba Father!". It's not just a poetic phrase or a great illustration - it's how we are actually meant to behave towards God. Just like a defenseless baby cries out for food and reassurance so we are to cry out to God our Father who loves us for everything we need. And because of His enormous and radical love for us, He responds and gives to us in love. God loves you. I pray for you today that He blesses you and draws your heart to Him and His great love.
[ Romans 8:15 - So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." ]
