by Pastor Joel Lawler

The older I get the more I realize how little I know and how much more there is to learn.

I was joking with a friend of mine about how when I was 18 my father did not know anything. Now that I am 36, he is brilliant. He sure has grown over the past 18 years.

My oldest just turned 13. I am now the parent of a teenager. She is at the point in her life where she is wanting more independence. She used to think dad and mom were pretty cool. Now she is thinking otherwise. I know this is the natural progression of adolescence but it does not make it any easier as a dad. I love the person that she is growing into but I also miss the little girl she used to be.
Jesus disciples were doing "crowd control" and were keeping the kids away from Jesus. He told them not to. He loved the little ones and very much liked having them around.

I can see why He felt so passionately about the little ones. I love the energy and wonder that they posses. It is a miracle when a baby enters a room how there is almost instantaneous joy.

Last Sunday, my pastor was delivering an incredible and compelling message.

He has a real gift for holding his listeners attention. There was a little girl sitting directly in front of me and she was stealing the show. She was not misbehaving but she was being a little girl. As I looked around I noticed I was not the only one who could not take my eyes off this beautiful little one. She was captivating by her mere presence.

Two of the points that I did catch was how our lives are not our own and how our love for others has eternal benefits.

I was taken back to being new in my faith as I thought about these two profound truths.

I am not my own. If I really believe this and live it out, it is truly life altering. If I abandon my perceived ownership of my life and live for others, it will be a dramatic change from my natural inclinations.

The second idea that our love for others will carry on and make a difference fits well with the idea that our life is not our own. If we give our life away in our love for others we will make a tremendous positive impact on those we have relationships with.

It is so easy as an adult to get caught up in the details and the doctrine of our faith and to miss the simple things like our call to love God and love others. God's Word is not a book of words but a living breathing person who meets us right where we are and relates to the person we are at every given moment. The Truth is far more than facts that can be written down. The Truth is God himself. This is why simple truths like you are not your own and the potency of love take us back to a child like faith. Faith in Jesus is not a dead and stale system but a constantly growing relationship. Jesus calls us to be like children.
Mathew 18:1-5 - At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."
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