Childlike People Love & Are Loved by God

Childlike People Love & Are Loved by God     Kelly Durant

Eph 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Matt 18:4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

2. February is the month of love, and we are going to get up and hug each other right now!(pause) And here with Cubans and Latinos we can even give the ‘holy kiss’ on the cheek too! Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss... (I Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, I Tess. 5:26) Four times we are commanded in the New Testament to kiss one another! And it is sad how some cultures don’t practice that greeting. I learned it is taboo for a Korean (along with several other cultures) to touch another when they greet! In essence I feel a bump on the cheek is a humble acceptance granting permission another person to be up close to your vulnerable face: I think it makes one feel loved, and accepted to be in your space, how about you?

How many of you get up in the morning, pray, and say, ‘Good morning’ to Jesus, your family, or dog, and then after that you feel a warmth that God’s love is in your life because he gave you another day to live? It is so hard to describe God’s love and mercy, right? It is more than a feeling. It is a faith and trust that His Holy Spirit is keeping you secure, peaceful, pure and holy, and keeping you energized with love to keep advancing in the fight of life!

Never forget your mission in life: it is to love! The greatest command is to what? Matt 22:37 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” So, love is what we are commanded to do above all things, but who really does it all the way as God does it?

3. So how can you and I learn about love the way Jesus taught? Imagine Jesus right now with a child in his arms? That is beautiful, right? Now imagine that that child is you! That really would be amazing, right?

Jesus had a child in his arms when he said: 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus created you and all things with God, and He loves you! God loves us best when we let ourselves be like a child and that means to soften up your hardened grown-up nature. What is it that happens to us as adults that we develop all these bad and ugly attitudes to the point no one can hug us and love us like a little child anymore?

What is it about children that we love? They are innocent and sweet. They also are humble and simple and even can be funny. Jesus states that we are to humble ourselves as a child? What does He mean by that? How do you and I become humble as a child when it seems impossible to turn back the hands of time?

A child is humble due to the fact that he or she respects and obeys the parents, who are the authority over him or her. A child just submits and accepts His father’s word and will. A child is a humble because he has faith to believe all that you teach him, and he will believe you instantly, which is faith. A child will be affectionate. Also, a child will also speak the blunt truth, something that most adults are too embarrassed and proud to do.

4. Let’s reflect deeper on Jesus statement. A child is humble because he is meek and un-ambitious to control others. A child usually has no worries about their image, until later society teaches them the hypocritical values of who is pretty and who is ugly, of who is rich and who is poor. A child has no false pride or a desire for power, and especially that was true in the Jewish society in Jesus day, remaining this way in most cultures today.

How are healthy normal children? They are usually playful, laugh, have fun, and they are by nature loving and forgiving.  So what do you need to work on if you’re going to become humble like a child?

It means you must force oneself to be more innocent, loving, and happy. It means you and I will be obedient to God, not proud, but simple to accept the unconditional love of God without question and spread it around to others.

5. Do you recall another statement Jesus made about children? One verse before the one of study today. Matt 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. So being humble and being like a child determines if you will go to heaven or hell! That is very serious!

God is love and is as meek and humble as a child, so the elimination of pride along with innocent belief go hand in hand for salvation!

Try to strive to be humble and childlike in your Christian walk and see what happens. The simple and sweet people seem to easily connect with my wife and I and we all get along well. But the only problem is when we encounter arrogant people. Even some so called Christians can be arrogant. They seem to interpret our meekness as implying we are simpletons or ignorant for being so nice loving the simple people. And sometimes you and I must hide our real nature acting harmless as doves, knowing inside that we are being wise as a snake in order to deal with the vicious poisonous pride of another person who may be challenging you.

 

Many people Regina and I meet have had hard lives, we feel the pain in their stories, and often I just want to hug them and tell them, Jesus is going to heal you with faith; it is going to get better! Compassion and love for another will move you. Real love in your heart begins with Jesus. But do you or I even get that chance? Not often enough! Pride, disbelief, and sin are walls that people build up around their selves to protect their damaged hearts. How sad it is when a person will not allow in an innocent childlike love!

6. Some people can be described as turtles that retract into their hard shell when they meet someone who is getting too loving, personal, and too close! They will not let you love them with a prayer and a hug because their pride gets in the way! They do not want to allow you to see their fears and worries.

Here is the mission you and I have: God wants to love everyone through you and me! We can do our part but the other person must be willing to be humble to receive it! You and I and you must go the extra mile and love all people despite how unloving they may be. We must model love and humility first! Prostitutes, drug addicts, and everyone no matter who need love but often they only get criticism from those who do not love as Jesus enough.

Jesus wants everyone to start life over by being like a child and even being reborn as a baby. He said we must be “Born again”, meaning one must make one’s spirit as clean and blank as a new baby or child! A child learns everything from the beginning; now that is humility! Read John 3:3

7. Jesus command that you and I must go preach the gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15) is humbling and actually very few of His Christian followers ever obey this to the full. I want to confess I felt like a baby or a child when I could not even speak a word of Spanish or Portuguese out on the mission field. I had to pass dozens of moments of embarrassment every day babbling like an idiot just to communicate.

I know what it is like to feel like you are a child, and many of you here do too, having to learn to talk all over again. I was determined to be able to learn to speak so well I could share the Bible with anyone and get them saved and to get them to be a disciple of Jesus Christ our Lord! And later I even had to learn sign language to talk with deaf people! Why don’t you try being deaf sometime and not use your mouth and see if you can get others to understand complex abstract parables. The Lord answered my desire to learn, as is in the promises of His Word. Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Love for what you do will bring success!

People are not always kind when you tell them about Jesus. One thing that came to my mind over and over back then was that I needed to have enough love for the people that I possessed the quality of longsuffering as mentioned in Eph 4:2. “Love suffers long”. Love, I have learned, is not just good vibes and passion of the flesh as our culture often defines it, but rather love is an enduring quality that is willing to suffer in its process of doing good. Love means you are willing to be remade into God’s imagine being like a little child.

8. God can make you humble like a child, if you ask Him to! Have you ever asked Him for that? Everyone has to become as a child in their faith and walk with God or they are useless to love anyone! Children want love and children give love, so it is best you and I get started today before your heart gets hard as a stone! Claim this promise…

Ezekiel 11:19 “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh”. I feel a pain and sadness for people who need love with a cold heart and love should you feel their pain too. Some of you here in the Corps need more love! Is this not a true statement?  

Do you know how it is with pastors and spiritual people that God gives gifts to? You have a spiritual gift, what is it? Often those with the gift of discernment see many things that are inside of others just by looking in their eyes. We want to help but often we do not get the chance to pray and communicate more about it because they avoid us because they perceive we know. The bottom line is you and I must be more loving and sensitive to everyone so we can give love to even the most hurting and undesirable person. 

9. Just a reminder, no one, not me or my wife are supernatural and there are times we miss perceiving you or someone’s needs for attention and love. But consider that Jesus expects you and me to swallow our pride and speak up when we have a need. We must tell God and others. He expects you to pray and talk to him and share with your Christian brothers. Remember how children have few inhibitions to cry out when they need you. 

Ask yourself, am I proud, self-sufficient, and hurting inside and hiding my pain like the turtle in his shell? The greatest mission we all have is to be like Jesus! How was Jesus again? He was pure love, pure communication to heal the pain of those who would let Him. We strive for this pure state of being humble and simple because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

There are suffering people that you and I know who have not yet discovered the joy of releasing it all to God being humble and feeling the arms of Jesus around them being loved as if they were a child!

10. Jesus is expecting you to over and over be like a little child, and in learning lessons of love this month, the love of a parents and children is one of the purest forms of love. When you learn a submissive love, a submission to your Father God only then you will be able to understand and practice a deeper love with others. Love is a bond made by faithfulness and kindness to another. Real love begins at a humble vulnerable point like a child growing up and then it develops into maturity to care for another. Are you striving to be as loving as Jesus? Decide today to be great in the kingdom of God by loving God and others!

The challenge today: to love more! Love is everything! Every person we win to the Lord is like a new born child into His kingdom. In the church when you make friends with a new person, I want you to adopt then as if they were your own child! Everyone should have children in their lives, especially spiritual children that they (you) are discipling for Jesus.  

So the greatest thing God wants from you is lovingkindness (which is pure holiness)loving Him and others. It starts with humbleness. God renews all hearts with love! What does a revived heart look like? It is a vibrant one, loving to all with not prejudgments, full of life and spirit, and overflowing with love for God and all people! Ask God for the heart of a child before it is too late!