Last week, my son turned one year old. I can’t believe how fast time has gone by over this last year. I have learned more and loved more in this last year than ever before. As his birthday came and went, I pondered on the time that I’ve been able to spend with and observe him thus far. As I’ve done so, there are so many things that stand out to me.
I won’t try to list all of the things that come to mind, but here are a few things that I don’t want to forget. The way that he smiles every time he sees you, even if it’s only been a few seconds since he saw you last. The way he wants to touch or step on every leaf that he passes. How curious he is about every new sound that he hears or new thing that he sees. How he plays on his own, but comes back every once in a while to give me a hug or a kiss. How his sense of humor is already forming, and he’ll do the same thing over and over for so long, because he wants to make you laugh. The way that he already exudes happiness and love towards everyone that he sees.
I am so grateful for everything that my son has already taught me this far, and I look forward to many years of continuing to observe him and learn from his sweet spirit.
Become as Little Children
Over the past year, I’ve thought more about what Jesus Christ meant when he told us:
3 Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.1
What does it really mean to become as a child? I mean, many children can’t even speak or understand most of the things that you say to them, so how can we become like them?
I think that one of the scriptures that gives me the most direction and understanding on this topic is Mosiah 3:19. In this verse, King Benjamin teaches us how we can put off the natural man, and become more like Christ. He said:
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.2
Qualities of a Child
In the second half of this verse, it lists qualities or attribute that children inherently have, that we should seek in order to become more Christlike.
First is being submissive. A child is submissive as they learn to listen to and obey their parents. I think that a child’s submission might be different than an adult’s, because they don’t always understand what is going on or why they need to do something, but they do it anyway. As we seek to become submissive like a child, we need to listen to and obey our Heavenly Father, even if we don’t understand why we are asked to do something.
Second is being meek. According to the guide to the scriptures, someone who is meek is “Godfearing, righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering. The meek are willing to follow gospel teachings.”3 As I think about my son, or any child, learning and growing each day requires meekness. They must be humble, teachable and patient in order to learn basic skills, such as crawling or walking. As we grow, we sometimes forget the meekness that is required to continue growing and developing, especially as we strive to grow spiritually.
Third is being humble. Humility goes hand in hand with the previous two qualities, but adds on a recognition of our dependence on God, and inability to do everything in our own. Children are born completely dependent on those around them. I also believe that children can recognize their dependence on God. To humble ourselves as a child, we need to realize that we don’t know what’s best, and we must rely on the Lord. We have to seek His guidance as we strive to do His will.
Fourth is striving to have patience. This is something that I am learning and praying for each day, especially as a new mom. Up to this point, I’ve realized where I need to have patience, but I haven’t thought about how children need to have patience. As I think now, I realize that my son constantly displays patience. He falls over and over again as he learns to walk and run. He misses his mouth lots of times as he tries to feed himself. He sits there for long periods of time trying to put Legos together over and over. Because of this patience, he has grown tremendously over the past year. I want to be more patient, especially with myself, as I strive to develop new knowledge and skills, and to improve skills that I may already have.
Fifth is being full of love. This is probably the easiest one to see in children. I haven’t met a child that doesn’t show love to those around them. It is such a blessing to see the joy that is brought to anyone who interacts with my son as he smiles and loves them. We can all take a page from the book of any child we know. No matter who we are around, we can be full of love, even the love of God. We too can display God’s love to all we come in contact with.
Lastly, we must be willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon us. This can be one of the hardest things to do, but I know that we can each choose to have faith in God’s will for us.
To develop these attributes takes constant effort. I think that one of the most important parts of the verse that I broke down, is that all of this must be done through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We cannot do it alone and need the strength of Christ to both develop these attributes and to grow and improve each and every day. I am still working each day to develop every one of these qualities. But, I know that as we strive to become as a child, we truly will be able to put off the natural man and come closer to Jesus Christ.