Childlike Faith

I was raised in a Christian home. The older I become, the more I realize that is a blessing.

There is a common question while living for Jesus, “what does it mean to have childlike faith?” We can start with the basic knowledge that children ask MANY questions. Paul Harris, who is a Harvard child psychologist and author, came to find from his research that children as around 40,000 questions between ages two to five. Essentially, it is healthy for a Christian to ask questions to grow deeper in knowledge of God’s Word and theology,

There is also a pure innocence of believing. One of my mom’s favorite stories of me was when I was around three or four at a church princess tea party and of course, I was thriving in my Cinderella dress. At one point, a lady sat all the little girls down and shared the gospel. My mom turned her head for a few minutes and went back to find me in the crowd out of all the girls. To her surprise, I was in the front hugging the wooden cross with all the girls behind me. My mom tears up every time she shares that story because at it’s core- it is innocent.

To give context, everyone should have a reason for what they believe in. In this case, I was young and was believing what I was hearing as most children do. Of course with time, you get a backbone for what you believe in.

That leads into my next point: Children are teachable. As Christians, we should strive to be rooted in proper teachings of the Bible from a Bible-believing church. We should be open to wanting to know more about the Lord’s heart and his Word.

The word “childlike” is actually not in the Bible, but there are indications that this how we should approach a relationship with God. Matthew 18:3 proves one does not have to worry about status to get to heaven using children as an example:

"And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.'"

Another thing children possess is boldness for what they believe. Think of Santa Clause, for example. Children talk about that man as if they know him personally. Obviously, Santa is not real, but thank God Jesus is. Christians should be bold about their faith.

I got saved when I was six years old and got baptized quickly after. I was also attending a Christian school at the time where God was brought up everyday in class. When I was entering fourth grade, I switched back to my public school that I attended for kindergarten. Because I was used to talking about God everyday from ages six to nine, that carried into my public school experience.

I remember using God in my answers when I was called on by teachers, writing God down for fun facts for assignments, and would talk about my faith to my peers. Safe to say I had the “Jesus girl” reputation in elementary till high school. My “childlike faith” allowed me to be a light for others.

Matthew 5:14-16 talks about how Christians are called to “be the light of the world” and to not be “hidden”. Even though children are smaller, when you cannot see them in the room, you know they are there if they are not silent…unless they are doing something that could get them in trouble from curiosity.

Essentially, approach your relationship with God like being a child again by asking questions, having a pure sense behind your belief in your faith, and being bold about your faith.