If we act with love, faith, and humility like children, we can better connect with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
I frequently babysit my little cousins, and the five-year-old frequently loses his toys. His first instinct when this happens is always to pray because he knows God will help him find his toys. To me his example purely showcases his faith, love, humility, and commitment to God.
President Jeffrey R. Holland focuses on becoming like children in his most recent general conference talk, “As a Little Child.” He quotes Mosiah 3:19, saying: “The natural man is an enemy to God, … and will be, forever and ever, unless he … becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, . . . humble, . . . full of love, . . . even as a child [responds] to his father.”
President Holland goes on to point out how children have such pure intentions compared to adults. Children are closer to the veil, and therefore have a stronger connection to God and Christ than the rest of us. President Holland says, “But children really do love Him, and that love can carry over into their other relationships in the playground of life. As a rule, even in their youngest years, children love so easily, they forgive so readily, they laugh so delightfully that even the coldest, hardest heart can melt.”
He later recalls the story of a young deacon he knew who was disabled. This twelve-year-old boy was unable to walk well and would soon be wheelchair bound. He worked with all his strength and trained to be able to bring the sacrament to his father with no help. He had to physically lift each of his legs up every step to do so, but he tried happily. Helping others make and keep the covenant of the sacrament was so important to him, that he went out of his way to ensure that he could bring it to his father.
Children are great examples to us of faith, love, humility, and commitment. By following their examples, we can come to be closer to Christ.
To learn more about how to be humble like a child, read Elder Holland’s talk “As a Little Child.”
Source: General Conference
— Julia Provost, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY BEN WHITE
Find more insights
Watch, read, or listen to President Boyd K. Packer’s general conference talk “Children” to learn more about the importance of being childlike.
Listen to, read, or watch Elder Merlin R. Lybbert’s general conference address “The Special Status of Children” to learn more about the important attributes of children.
Read, watch, or listen to Elder Boyd K. Packer’s general conference talk “Little Children” to learn more about why Jesus loves them so much.