Become like children?

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dizzy_dave

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When Jesus told us to become like children, what did he mean? How are we to act or be?
 
Have you ever seen a child, rapt with attention? That is what Jesus meant…a child, totally caught up in His Love. A child who knows beyond a doubt that God is real…ask a little kid sometime about Jesus. You will be astounded at their knowledge of Him. We are not to act childishly - the bible speaks to that, too, but we are to come to Christ with the innocence and purity of a child.

God Bless you -
 
Children are wonderful. They are open, accepting, warm, trusting, loving. They put their little hands in yours and walk along with you, trusting you and listening to you. That’s how we are to be as God’s children : open, trusting, loving, warm, accepting. We are to be “childlike” not “childish” There is a vast difference between the two. Too often in church we confuse the two and act “childish” instead of “childlike”
 
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headman13:
Children are wonderful. They are open, accepting, warm, trusting, loving. They put their little hands in yours and walk along with you, trusting you and listening to you. That’s how we are to be as God’s children : open, trusting, loving, warm, accepting. We are to be “childlike” not “childish” There is a vast difference between the two. Too often in church we confuse the two and act “childish” instead of “childlike”
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Good answer. 👍
 
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dizzy_dave:
When Jesus told us to become like children, what did he mean? How are we to act or be?
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That is pure Zen.

Little children and dogs see reality as it is.
 
These are all great answers, but let me add a personal observation. I come from an Italian family and some of them still live in Italy, and lately I’ve been struck with their approach to their faith. For Italians (and I mean native Italians, not Americans of Italian origin like me), God, the Blessed Mother, and the saints are very real, tangible beings. That’s why there are so many statues in Italian churches & the Italians are always touching them. We American Catholics have been influenced by the Protestant culture to the extent that we often unconsciously have this wall set up between ourselves and God. I remarked upon this to an Italian friend and said that I admired this *childlike *sincerity in their mode of belief, and she agreed with my description. So, to me becoming like a child in the sense that our Lord meant it is to see him as real and alive, the way children do.
 
I think Jesus said, “We must become like little children”… to show us that little children love unconditionally, purely without guile…. and ideally, that’s how we should love and approach God…expecting His gentle love and mercy. 🙂
 
I remember i asked my daughter when she was five what the eucharist was, without hesitation she said the body of christ.

We must have our eyes open to a world full of love.
 
Christy Beth:
And we are to have a child-like trust in Him.
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IN HIM! you just said a mouthfull. That settles it I believe it. Everything hinges on Jesus Christ, not anything but the LORD and His Word.

Amen to that!
 
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as-a-child:
I remember i asked my daughter when she was five what the eucharist was, without hesitation she said the body of christ.

We must have our eyes open to a world full of love.
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Excellent story. I have one like it about my daughter, now 21 and a Junior at University “I don’t remember growing older…when did they…”], She was about 3 or 4 at the time. We were at one of the major Catholic shrines somewhere, I want to say the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in DC. There was a large, lifesize Crucifix in the narthex, which was very very dark at the time. Only the flickering candles illumined it. It was very lifelike, graphic. My wife was afraid it might frighten our daughter and told her not to be scared. The little tyke quoted one of our favorite hymns as she told her “It’s all right, Mom. ‘Jesus makes my heart rejoice. I’m His sheep and know His voice’ .” Out of the mouths of babes.
 
Beautiful responses. I also agree that it means completely trusting Our Heavenly Father to take care of us and do what is best for us – even when that opposes what the world tries to tell us is good for us or best for us.

As children we didn’t always understand why our parents told us “no,” but we learned to trust that it was for a good reason. It is the same with Our Heavenly Father.

In the same light, there are times when we need to be disciplined, again not always sure of the reason or outcome, but ultimately it was in order to learn a lesson.

Isn’t it awesome that Our Father loves us so much??!!
 
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