Complimentary Story
Summer 2026“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” Ephesians 5:1-2. Dear children are distinguished from ordinary children or rebellious children. Certain characteristics make children dear. It is important to the Christian to understand what those characteristics are.
The word “dear” is thrown around rather loosely among English speaking people. Words lose their power and meaning when used without discretion. For that reason, we need to consider what we mean when we use very familiar words in our writing and teaching.
Dear children are those that are highly loved by their parents and who very much love their parents. It is a reciprocal relationship that is a pleasure to all involved.
The dearest children are those little ones just old enough to believe that their father is the greatest, the best, the most powerful, the wisest, the kindest person alive. They can only think in the superlative terms as it relates to their father. As these little children enter their teens, they begin to think differently. They want to be independent. They want to run their own lives and this brings them into conflict with the authority that God put over them. That is why they must be converted and become as little children in order to be saved.
Little children are very direct in their faith. The little captive Hebrew maid that served Naaman’s wife had no doubts about the possibility of her master being cured of his leprosy. (2 Kings 5). She did not say possibly or maybe. She simply said of the prophet Elisha, “he would recover him of his leprosy.” You can tell a little child stories of God’s miracles and he has no problem believing. For that reason, it is a sin of colossal proportion to tell children the myths of Santa Claus as though it were true. To lie to any child about anything is offending that child. Jesus said; “But whoso shall offend one of these little one which believe in Me, it were better for him that millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Where children have a good relationship with their father, they love to be with him and watch what he is doing or even help if they can. Of course, they are more of a hindrance than they are a help usually, and because the father loves them and loves to have them around, he gladly tolerates the inconvenience. All the while the youngster is observing what the father is doing and how he does it. He is impressed with the ability and the ease with which his father accomplishes difficult tasks. He “worships” his father.
In consideration of the characteristics of little children, the question is forced upon me: Am I following God as a dear child? Do I worship my heavenly Father with the sweet abandon of a little child? Do I rest in the fact that my Father can do anything but lie? Do I glory in the superlative character of my Father: that He is the best, the greatest, the most kind, the most loving and caring; that He knows everything, is always near to help me? Jesus had a reason for taking a little child and setting him in the midst of His quarreling disciples. That little child illustrated perfectly what those men needed to become if they were going to be useful in His kingdom.
An older child cannot be used to illustrate what Jesus wanted to teach. Older children begin to concern themselves with their own place in the grand scheme of life. They are trying to gain a following or be a part of a popular group. Rejection and acceptance are heavy factors in their life. Suspicion is a very active part of their life. They love and hate on the basis of what they suspect. They concern themselves more with their position among their peers than they do their relationship to their parents. Those years are critical for both parent and child.
To be converted and become as a little child means that we must experience a drastic change at the very center of our life. As the Apostle Paul put it: “old things are passed away and behold all things are become new.” We are new creatures in Christ. If we are in Christ, His love enfolds us and makes us content. It is our responsibility to walk in love. Our texts command us to walk in love as Christ loved us. There is a supernatural element to Christ’s love that man cannot obtain unless he has the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit filling our heart, we can walk in love and be a living sacrifice, even as Jesus.
Consider the sweet aroma that flowed forth from the life of Jesus. What was it? Was it not the complete absence of what we call “self?” He was a living sacrifice. He went about doing good. He made Himself of no reputation whereas we humans are concerned about reputation. The New Birth does not annihilate self. For that reason, Jesus said if we will be His disciples we must deny self daily. We must take up our cross daily and follow Him. We cannot follow God as a dear child any other way. Each morning, we choose to follow Christ instead of self. Far too often we fail to reckon with the presence of self and the problems it causes.
Self causes marriage problems. It disrupts the smooth function of the home. It is often at the bottom of financial problems. It hinders church fellowship. Self can be religiously carnal. It may conform to established norms, yet all the while chaffing and underhandedly rebelling. It is not difficult to see that such conduct does not belong to dear children. This is the conduct of those who have advanced to the stage where they have the potential to become very obnoxious. It is a time when parents must exercise much discipline.
It is the same with God. Those He loves, He chastens. Since self is never completely dead, God needs to chastise us. It is very sad when His children cannot discern His chastening. People blame circumstances. They blame other people for their failures or for their misfortune. They cannot see God because they have allowed self to be enthroned again in their heart. We cannot be His disciple unless we deny self, take up our cross and follow Him. Self ruins the dearness of any relationship.
Walk in love. Love is a choice. We love God or we do not love God. We love our brother or we do not love our brother. We may try to deceive ourselves about our love, but we cannot deceive God. Our life must be a continual decreasing as Christ increases. When that is the case, a sweet aroma will go forth from our self-sacrificing life that we will not really be aware of, but God and those around us will be aware of it. We will be one of God’s dear children happily working with the Father, living with the sweet abandon that little children know.
“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.”
Rod & Staff Publishers
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