Like a Child

God is often telling me that I need to be more like a child, which seems so hard probably because it's so simple.

"I tell you the truth: anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17. (Wow. I've got a lot of receiving to do!)
 

Why is it so hard? One reason is because we tend to equate being childlike with being childish:  self-focused, whiners, stubborn, petty, quarrelsome, impatient, insisting on your own way, etc.; which obviously isn't what God means when he insists we be His children.

Another reason is that we falsely view adults and children as opposites:

C.S. Lewis: "The modern view seems to me to involve a false conception of growth. They accuse us of arrested development because we have not lost a taste we had in childhood. But surely arrested development consists not in refusing to lose old things but in failing to add new things? . . . a tree grows because it adds rings; a train doesn't grow by leaving one station behind and puffing onto the next . . . if to drop parcels and to leave stations behind were the essence and virtue of growth, why should we stop at the adult? Why should not senile be equally a term of approval?"

In other words, being an adult child means incorporating your childhood into your adulthood, not losing your childhood.  

So, how to do this?  By rediscovering innate qualities God has built into us to be:

1. Loved. You are loved no matter what, simply because you are the Father's kid. You are not loved because of what you do, but because of who you are.
2. Loving. God cares more that we love him than he does that we produce for him or figure everything out for him.
3. Full of Wonder. Life is to be discovered, more than determined. Those who have lost their sense of awe, have lost their sense of God. (It's awful not to be awe-ful.)
4. Trusting. A child trusts his Father in the things that he cannot comprehend. Albert Einstein said: "The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."
5. Humble. God places important gifts on the bottom shelf so that all of his kids can reach them. It takes humility to serve the least, to obey, to receive the gift of tongues, to be open to the supernatural, etc.; but that's where terrific rewards can be found.
6. Unpretentious. Run with reckless abandon to God. Sacrifice perfect form for intense desire. Don't worry about how you look; rather, be a willing "fool for Christ."
7. Open-ended. Worry less about results, and more about simply being with God. Children don't let perfectionism stifle their performance.
8. Natural. To be truly natural means awakening your true nature: that is, realize that you are God's kid.
9. Playful. Lighten up. Take yourself less seriously; take God and others more seriously. Learn how to meet your needs without feeling guilty. Remember that "the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Neh 8:10.) God is serious about fun!
10. Innocent. Take things at face-value and don't overcomplicate them with compartmentalized thinking. To be "pure of heart" means simply to will one thing: love.
11. Expectant. Because you can label yourself a Christian doesn't necessarily mean you are receiving all God wants for you. Sometimes because I'm enjoying great gifts from God, I think that I can't be more blessed.
12. Fearlessly Curios. Being with God means inhibited for the good!
13. Free. Augustine said "Love God and do what you want" which emphasizes that if you are loving God then you are truly free. (It is the only real way to have genuine freedom.) You can rest assured that even if you error, God will provide course corrections as necessary.
14. Zealous. Learn how to fight for the goods. Enter the challenge. Be more energetic for God's prizes.
15. A Quality Napper. Rest with the Lord as a child rests in his Father’s arms and delights just to be with him. This is so important, especially for a modern American. Enjoy God's presence in the present.
16. Submissive. Yield to the Father's correction. A child that cannot be disciplined cannot be taught.
17. Weaned. Be a weaned child, waiting for the food to be provided. Resist instant gratification. Be able to sacrifice in the short term to receive the long term benefit.
18. Dependent. To approach God as a little child is to approach him in complete, total reliance. In Theresa of Avila's Interior Castle she says that we need to approach the King as a poor person would: in respect, begging for grace and mercy; or equivalently, as a helpless child.
19. Secure. Only a child of the King is protected from the King's enemies.
20. Friendly. Rap with God specifically and personally. He doesn't want to be your buddy, but he does want to be your best friend. Likewise, he doesn't want to be treated primarily as a task-solver, but as one to share everything, from simple to deep.
21. Asking. You should not be the one to put a limit on what you ask of God; let God set the limit! Ask him for more now.

Lastly, to help us be more childlike God may give us our own kids, and that can change our ideas about a lot of things! Which may be one reason why this kid isn't married. Ba-ha-haaa. (Or is it boo-hoo?)