This Month’s Theme:

A Childlike Yet Maturing Faith

3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:3-4

13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:13-14

Father and children building treehouse together
Father and children building treehouse together

Reflection

Reflecting on Matthew 18:3-4 and Hebrews 5:13-14, I see a beautiful tension between childlike faith and spiritual maturity. Even as the Bible urges me to grow in understanding, I’m reminded to approach God with a simple trust like that of a child.

To grow in understanding of God and His Word, I need to regularly read and reflect on the Bible, pray for wisdom, live out God’s truth in daily life, be planted in a community, and seek to deepen my relationship with God through obedience and trust. Approaching God with childlike trust means believing His promises, relying on Him for everything I need, and embracing His love like a child embraces the care of a loving parent.

Balancing spiritual growth and childlike trust is a lifelong journey, yet I know God walks with me, and as I stay close to Him, He will guide me to discover more and more of His love and faithfulness.

– Nessie Gunardi

Join in the Conversation

It might be bewildering to imagine what it looks like to “become like little children” in God’s eyes when we’ve been continually told to “grow up” and become independent and self-sufficient. 

But this childlikeness is mainly about the posture of our hearts towards God—Do we yearn to be around Him and speak to Him in the same way kids speak to their dads, freely and affectionately? Do we humbly trust our Father in the same way that children trustingly look to their fathers to provide their needs? 

God never wants us to “outgrow” our dependence on Him and love for Him, yet He also desires for us to keep growing in our understanding of Him—His character, His truths, commands, and promises so that we can see more of His goodness and appreciate the depths of His love for us. 

Reflect

  • What’s keeping you from being childlike in the way you trust God? What’s making it hard for you to mature spiritually? Why not start by bringing all of your struggles to Him, and humbly ask for wisdom and a heart of obedience.
  • Topics to explore: 
    • Why it’s good to ask questions and what makes us afraid/reluctant to ask
    • How can we learn to trust without being naive
    • X habits that help us learn to be brave and not avoid difficulty
    • X ways to help us face difficult Bible passages head on
    • X questions to ask ourselves to help us gauge our spiritual growth
    • How to not become complacent in our faith journey

Need encouragement? Here are some articles to help you reflect:

I Forgot I Was Friends with Jesus
I Forgot I Was Friends with Jesus
I didn’t realize until I was in my third year of college that I had forgotten about the friendship I could have with Jesus. I had become so calloused to the tender side of His relationship with me that it often felt more like I was His spiritual employee, rather than someone He delights in.

Does God Care About What I Want?
Does God Care About What I Want?
I was trying to stomach a failure—yet another rejection in my writing career—and as I sat with my husband, I shared how God’s key message to me seemed to be this idea of making “no graven image” (Exodus 20:4). Meaning, I had to be careful to not remake God as “the God of my desires”.

3 Things I Got Wrong About Trusting God
3 Things I Got Wrong About Trusting God
We all know what it’s like to grapple with hurt or disappointment when our trust gets broken or when we find ourselves breaking someone else’s trust.

Putting the Joy Back into Surrendering
Putting the Joy Back into Surrendering
Life is hard. We face broken relationships, disappointment, discouragement, ostracism, illnesses, and day-to-day things like the frustration of squeezing with the morning crowd, assignments and chores that won’t complete themselves, nights when we straddle between exhaustion and insomnia—the list is endless.

Be Patient with Your Slow Spiritual Growth
Be Patient with Your Slow Spiritual Growth
I recently talked with my mentor about how frustratingly slow my sanctification can be. Even when I know in my head that something is true, it doesn’t always shape my heart or steer my hands.

2 Small Things I Do When I Struggle to be Faithful
2 Small Things I Do When I Struggle to be Faithful
If you love to-do lists, you’d enjoy creating goals for the day and ticking off every task you accomplish. When it comes to our spiritual walk, however, it's tricky to measure progress with a to-do app or list.

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