I spend the majority of my time with my child, who is not quite two years old. I work 18-20 hours a week, and the rest of that time, I am with Spencer. (And I love it). My point is… spending so much time with a little child has really changed my perspective on a lot of things. Seeing the world through my toddler’s eyes makes me view things in a new light.
And one of those things is my faith.
Psalm 116:6 “The Lord protects those of childlike faith…”
When I think about some of Spencer’s childlike qualities and how they can be applied to my faith life, I think of these things.
Eagerness and full of hope.
It’s one of the things I love most about Spencer… about little children in general. They’re so eager to learn, and so hopeful. The longer I live on this earth, the easier it is to grow disillusioned… to focus on the negativity that is so prevalent in every part of society. Spencer is still oblivious to this. He hasn’t been corrupted yet by politics or evening news or social media. He doesn’t know what the “real world” is like yet. His world is simple and he embraces each day with a big, hopeful smile. And I think my faith could stand a huge dose of hope. My faith could stand to be more eager and open to the impossible… my faith could stand to be less “realistic” and cynical.
Completely dependent.
Little children are completely dependent (though they sometimes act like they aren’t) on their parents. Spencer likes to do little things for himself, but he is still totally dependent on us to care and provide for him. I need my faith to be more like that. I need to depend fully on God the way Spencer depends fully on us. Not just in word, but my actions every day should reflect that dependency.
No filters.
With little children, what you see is what you get. Spencer lacks a filter because he hasn’t learned yet how to hide his feelings. No one has taught him yet that he should act a certain way, pray a certain way, worship a certain way, dress a certain way… he is just himself, the best way he knows how. He doesn’t try to hide how he feels and anything that’s on his mind, comes out of his mouth. There can be downsides to this, for sure… but I would love to apply more of that authenticity to my faith. Unafraid to let down my guard. Unconcerned about what the people around me think. Complete free to be myself, vulnerable, honest, genuine with Jesus, rather than trying to keep up appearances. Totally humbled.
Everyone deserves a chance.
My son is so unbiased when it comes to being friendly to people. He waves and says hello to everyone, no matter what they are doing or what they look like. I wish I could be less biased when I’m praying for people. I struggle so much to pray for people who I don’t like, instead of thinking about all the things they do that annoy me. God doesn’t play favorites, so why do I think I should?
(I might follow this up with some childlike qualities that I DO apply to my faith life and shouldn’t.)
Kristen Stewart, Writer 