May We Always Stay So Childlike

If we kept our childlike mentality, our lives would be filled with so much more joy. I watch my children and learn from them.

I see how their eyes light up with excitement at the thought of even an ice cream. As adults, we sometimes forget to appreciate these small things. We can forget that we are not in charge. As people of faith, we are here to learn and grow with God as our Father as He is raising us with lessons and love.

Here are six areas in which we can learn from our children:

1. In Prayer.

Children pray with conviction and true innocence and conviction. If we became more childlike in our prayer, we would close our eyes tight and pray when things are unknown or scary. God’s word would be the final answer. When we pray, our hearts would believe God’s promises and in the power of prayer.

When we prayed it would be like talking to a trusted friend or our parents. We would not pray for just what we wanted, but we would be thankful in prayer and remember to list off all of our loved ones asking God to bless them.

2. In Appreciation.

We would appreciate and enjoy life more. We could be silly without feeling like we are judged. We’d jump right into our days with enthusiasm. We would be who we are supposed to be without hesitation. We would look at life as an adventure. We’d know that simply walking to our car can be made into a game. We would race each other into our offices. 

We would find joy in little things, such as a flower in a field. We would look at the beauty in the clouds, find the stars captivating, the moon amazing and know that God has blessed us with a beautiful earth and universe to behold.

We would take care of what we have because we would appreciate it. A rock could be a treasure more than something shiny and new. Our hearts would look forward to things. And we would enjoy the anticipation as much as the event.

3. In Confidence.

If we looked at things like kids do, our fashion would be what we wanted it to be. Unmatched socks would be a statement.

We would trust our Father God when He tells us it will be OK. We would believe in Him with all of our hearts. We would know that He will always take care of us.      

Our trust in learning would not be anything but excitement. A big project would be fun and we would feel satisfied by all small or big accomplishments.

We would allow God to hold our hands through the things we fear. We would believe we can be anything.

Our hearts would recover quickly, over cookies and milk and the reassurance that we are loved eternally.

4. In Manners.

We would be thankful for everything and able to love, forgive and humble ourselves quicker. We would know that giving is better than receiving. We would forgive quickly and arguments would be solved with a hug and a laugh.

We would befriend everyone. We would not be too proud to say “I’m sorry.” We would know that an apology is worth more than pride. 

We would be humble, learning from mistakes and accepting any failure with grace, believing we will do better next time. 

We would share our food; we would know that sharing is a rule. We would be giving and know that selfishness gets us in trouble.

We would thank God for our meals and thank others even for small gifts.

5. In Health.

If we lived life like children, our days would be planned out. We’d schedule time to read our Bible’s, time to play and time for bed.

We would learn how to take a break. We would actually enjoy time off. We would know that if the moment is peaceful, say reading a book in the shade on the summer day, it would not be filled with a “to do” list lurking in our minds.

We would be so tired from a full day of enjoying life that we would sleep well at night.

Our bodies would be healthy. We would get regular check-ups and engage in plenty of activity. 

6. In Faith.

We would seek God more.

Bible stories would be filled with heroes and we would be as excited about them as we would any story filled with true adventure.

Our hearts would yearn for more knowledge about God and we would seek Him, wanting to learn with open hearts and eager minds.

We would want to spend time with Him, just as when we were little we wanted to spend time with our parents. We would hang on to every word He says, allowing Him to be the one we relied on for all of our needs.