Faith Like a Child

READ: MATTHEW 6:25-34; 18:1-4; 19:13-15

When I was a young child, I didn’t worry about the future or what I was going to do next. I was focused solely on the present, and I relied completely on my parents to guide me. They prepared my meals, drove me places, and bought me clothes and toys. My complete dependence on my parents created an unavoidable humility within me. I relied on their help and support in almost everything. I didn’t know much as a child, and I had complete faith and trust in my parents to provide for me.

In Matthew 18, Jesus’s disciples ask Him, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” (verse 1). The disciples aren’t asking about God. They’re thinking about themselves. In response, Jesus calls a little child to Him. Then Jesus says, “Unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven” (verse 3).

What does it mean to become like a little child? Jesus isn’t telling us to become immature, He’s telling us to think back to when we were completely dependent on someone else. Jesus wants us to have complete dependence on Him! That’s what it’s like to become as humble as a child—admitting there’s a lot we don’t know, and fully relying on God for everything. Faith like a child is believing that God loves us, and He will provide for all our needs.

Earlier in the book of Matthew, in chapter 6, Jesus tells us not to worry about the future or what to do next. He calls us to focus on the present. And when we do look to the future, we can rely on God to guide us. It’s easy to get prideful and try to depend on ourselves for provision, but that never ends well. Instead, God invites us to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness (verse 33), remembering that He has already provided us with salvation through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. So now we can have humble faith that God will continue to provide for us! • Elizabeth Cooper

• What might it look like for you to practice humility like a child? What is one specific thing you can depend on God for?

• God provided Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And He also provided us with His Holy Spirit so we can always be with Him. It’s not because of anything we do that we can enter God’s kingdom. It’s all because of Jesus’s sacrifice. For more about this good news, see our "Know Jesus" page.

Then he [Jesus] said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (NLT)