Childlikeness

One thing God’s been highlighting to me over and over again during my time in South Africa is what it really means to be childlike. We usually think of it as trusting without reservation, like how a child trusts their parents to do what’s best, but God’s been showing me there’s so much more to it!

During out first time helping at the soup kitchen, there was a giant dog mascot that came out to dance and play with the kids. Most of them loved the dog, but there was one girl who was terrified and ran away crying.

I followed her and bent down to give her a hug, and she immediately wrapped her tiny arms around and tried to climb onto my lap. I held her the whole time the “scary” dog was out, and she just rested her head on my shoulder and held on. It didn’t matter that I was a stranger; she trusted me to take care of her.

If we trusted God to take care of us the way that little girl trusted me to take care of her, there wouldn’t be any problems. I share the story to show a tangible aspect of childlike trust; what we usually think of when we hear childlike.

At the school we help out with, the kids will see us coming and run to meet us and give us hugs. From the first day to the last, they would meet us every time we came (and we came 3 times a day), with all the excitement of the first time.

Being childlike also means loving without a reason to love. These kids didn’t know us, but they ran straight towards us, the same way we should be running to Jesus everytime we see him.

There’s one girl at the school who will give you a hug everytime she sees you. She’ll hold on for as long as she can and rest her tiny head against your body. Sometimes she talks, other times she just holds you, but no matter what you can see how much she loves hugs and loves you.

We need to have childlike love, that isn’t based on what God can do for us, but is there because we haven’t learned otherwise. We need to love like we’ve never been hurt, and be content in that love.

These are just snatches of what I’ve been noticing, but it’s so hard to put into words! It’s a feeling more than something you can point directly at. A general knowing that moving back towards the innocence of a child would help us move forward in being more Christlike.