Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].
—Matthew 18:3
Today's verse describes children as trusting, lowly, loving, and forgiving. Just think about how much more we would enjoy our lives and our relationships with God and other people if we would simply operate in these four virtues. Obviously, Jesus thinks these qualities are extremely important because He says we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without them. We cannot enjoy the benefits of God's Kingdom and maintain bad attitudes at the same time.
When I think about hearing God's voice, I see that being like a child is so important because children believe what they are told. Some people say children are gullible, meaning they believe anything, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. But I don't think children are gullible; I think they are trusting. God certainly doesn't want us to be gullible or naive; He wants us to be trusting. Sometimes we are betrayed by people we love and trust and are tempted to then distrust everyone, but we cannot make everyone pay for what one person did to us.
There are people in the world who cannot be trusted, but there are also a lot of good people and we must refuse to live with a spirit of suspicion.
God is completely trustworthy. All human beings, regrettably, cannot be trusted unconditionally, but God can. God wants you to come to Him like a child, trusting Him completely and believing everything He says to you—because He is totally trustworthy.
God's word for you today: Don't let one or two bad experiences rule your entire life.
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