List every piece of evidence you can find to support the statement: “Christ loves children”
He called a little child to stand among them. He said we must become like them to enter heaven. He said those humble like children are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. If we welcome a little child in his name, we welcome him. The punishment is severe from leading a child into sin. We are not to look down on children. Children have their own specially favored angels.
Based on Christ’s statement in Matthew 18:6, how do you think one person could cause another person to sin?
They could indirectly set a bad example, and make sinful behavior seem like the acceptable normal, or they could directly try to persuade the child to do something they know is wrong. As an example: lying-parents can blatantly lie in front of or even to their children, or they can ask their child to lie for them on the phone, or to the teacher, or to the grandparents.
Describe why it would be better for one who causes a child to sin to have a millstone around his neck and be drowned.
“I suppose because death by drowning is quick compared to eternal torment.”
Which of the following statements best reflects Matthew 18:8-9? “We must take sin seriously, especially sins that so easily affect others.”
Based on Luke’s account of the same scene in 9:46, what was the disciples’ motive for asking who would be greatest?
“They were arguing over which of them was the greatest disciple.”
Why might the disciples have been a little insulted by Christ’s example, based on the insight you can gain from Mark 10:13-16?
“I think the disciples saw children as a nuisance, and not as important as the adults.”
Christ pulled a real child forward to expressed his idea of greatness, while His chosen twelve were acting like a bunch of children.
What do you think Christ meant in Matthew 18:5?
“I could be being unwilling to be a parent, but it’s more likely making them feel allowed and excepted and welcome to be themselves even in the midst of adult gatherings”
Christ basically said, “What you do for them, you do for Me.” What is another way God tenderly cares for children in Matthew 18:10?
“He assigns His favorite angels to them.”
How could the enemy benefit from tempting you to believe wrongly about Christ’s attitude toward child victimization?
“I suppose it undermines our faith to think Christ turns a blind eye.”
Based on what you’ve read today, what is the truth about Christ’s attitude toward children, and all that happens to them?
“He is hurt to the point where He feels it is perpetuated on Him.”
How does Zechariah 2:8 state God’s defensiveness toward His own?
“We are the apple of his eye, and He is extremely defensive of us.”
When you are trying to discern whether God or Satan is the author of a hardship, one of your best clues is whether or not sin is involved. God never entices us to sin, nor does He employ sin or perversion, as a means of molding us into the image of Christ.
Think about your own childhood. Identify an experience that would be characteristic of:
God: “Krispin Caleb being put to sleep”
Satan: “Bullying at the hands of Heath”
Have you ever surrendered every part of that hurt to Him? “yes”
Dearest Rachel –
Our road through childhood, and indeed, on into young adulthood, is landmarked with a series of first experiences, serving as milestones due to their intensity. Our first tastes of sour or spicy food, our first holiday celebration that we’re actually able to take in, our first rollercoaster, our first kiss (and points beyond). While in many cases, we’ve experienced similar events since, the first time always seemed so much more so, if only because we had no basis of comparison to judge the intensity of the experience, and so it stands to this day as a significant event in our lives.
Of course, this goes equally for childhood traumas, as the effects they wrought upon us. The first time losing a loved one (whether an animal or a human), the first harsh words spoken to us (seemingly without provocation; even at a young age, we can understand punishment, if not necessarily accept it), the first rejection. Both such events shape us into the person we ultimately become, for better or for worse.
Likewise, children, despite seemingly being able to lie almost from the moment they can speak (although not necessarily very well: “Did you eat the cookies?” “Nmphf.” “Come on; your mouth is so full of them, you can’t even answer me!” *gulp* “Uh-uh!”), still tend to believe anything that adults tell them, taking everything on face value without considering the absurdity of what they’re being told. You’d be hard-pressed to convince an adult about Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, after all, but kids seem to accept the concepts without question (which kind of beg the question; why do we do this to our kids? I get the carrot-and-stick, you’d-better-be-good point of Santa or the Namuhage, but what was the point of the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, anyway?) And when you expand on this concept, they could be taught to believe just about any lie, as they haven’t had the opportunity to develop BS alerts yet. And while it seems a shame that we have to develop such internal lie detectors, this is what comes of a fallen world; even the children have to become “sharper than serpents” in order to survive.
It’s that simple, guileless faith that children have that Jesus found so precious, and instructed his disciples to emulate. As products of their time, you’re right – they did see children, like widows, as a drain on societal resources, giving nothing in return (at least, not in an immediate sense). But Jesus pointed out that they offer an example for us to follow, as difficult as it may be to do so, after being trod on by life; we need to be able to trust Him fully, despite not always having proof before us (after all, if we always have proof, do we even have faith?) Those that spoil this faith – thereby causing another to join them on the path to hell and destruction – are thus doubly subject to punishment, and even as gentle and loving as He is depicted in popular culture, Jesus declares that drowning is too good for them.
I wonder where that leaves us, and our society, at this point. We make so many claims that what we do is for the children, and yet, they are getting more cynical and sensitive all the time. I suspect eternity will be littered with millstones bearing people’s names, waiting to be hung about their necks as their just reward. Odds are, many of them will think they are being presented with a great honor for their great work… under such time as they hit the water…
Talk to you later, honey. Keep an eye on me, and wish me luck; I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 