I’m Fighting to be More Child-Like

Daily writing promptWhat is one thing you would change about yourself?View all responses

Small children often abandon self-focus and the expectations of other people to allow themselves to become freely captivated by the mystery and wonder of being alive. They radiate humble innocence, healthy curiosity, enthusiastic creativity, joyful spontaneity, and non-competitive playfulness. That’s the beauty of a child-like spirit.

However, if adults continually manifest those characteristics, they are considered to be naive and childish. It’s taxing to maintain robust child-like innocence in tough and tumble judgmental world. It’s arduous to “receive the kingdom of God like a child” (to surrender to God’s inner government and be led by the Spirit).

As children grow toward adulthood, life fights to steal their innocence and entrap them in self-focus and pride, in guilt, and shame. Jesus put it this way: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” To be childlike requires a life-long fight.

The most important fight you can fight is the fight of faith. Fight to fully believe in and unceasingly rely on God like a tiny child relies on his parents. Faithfully fight to bring your every thought, feeling, and desire into obedience to Christ. Fight to be spontaneously led by the Spirit. Fight for God’s supernatural might and spiritual insight to persistently think, say, and do what’s right. Fight to always be honest and to boldly live in God’s light. Fight to ever soar to new heights in your relationship with God. Fight to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to always delight in the Lord! Let your first priority ever be to seek first the kingdom of God and to allow His Spirit to directly rule and govern you from within so that the risen Jesus can always be your Lord.

And don’t fight alone, keeping your heart isolated from other Christians (even when you are sitting beside them in a church service). I believe that the body of Christ met differently in the first century than Christians meet today. Today church is about passively hearing a sermon that was developed through systematic study and analysis, but I believe that the first Christians met support-group-style with lots of passionate Spirit-prompted sharing and singing that overflowed with the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit and with the openness and innocence of little children.

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