Matthew 18:10
“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”
God doesn’t want us to be respecter of persons. James 2:1-7 gives a great description of the sin of partiality, ‘My brothers and sisters, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in bright clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: did God not choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the good name by which you have been called?’
Many look down upon the young. The young haven’t earned their place in the world, yet. We tend to dismiss them. Especially elementary age ones. I do understand some of that. There are some topics that aren’t suitable for the young. But that’s different than showing favoritism.
Jesus said in Matthew 19:13-15, ‘Then some children were brought to Him so that He would lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them to come to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.’ This is amazing. Jesus nails this point. Love them, let them in, give them what they ask.
It might be said that how we treat children could correlate with our maturity in Christ. If we belittle them, we are immature in Christ. If we love them, then we are getting closer to knowing Christ.
God’s way is to reach the humble and lowly. The children are the vulnerable amongst us. We are to love and bless them. We see this all throughout the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, “Blessed are they that mourn” and so on. God places great emphasis on the lowly. He says many times in the bible to care for the widows and orphans. If we abuse them, He becomes an avenger.
Lord, help us not to show partiality. Help us to make room for who ever You bring across our path. Help us not to look past who’s in front of us. But to give them time and attention.
