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One day while standing in the checkout line at a toy store, my mother and I witnessed a tender moment of a woman crouching beside her young child, consoling him as he sobbed. She looked up at our curious faces and explained that her son loved going to the toy store so much that he was always crushed when it was time to leave. She did not want to rob him of the experience by stopping these visits, so she loved him through the pain each time. We were struck by this mother’s outpouring of patience, love, and grace.

Children were important to Jesus, and He took time to make sure they knew He valued them. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus was “indignant” when the disciples tried to stop parents from bringing their children to Jesus to get blessed. “Indignant” means expressing strong displeasure at something unjust, offensive, or insulting. There are only two times the gospel writers used the word indignant when describing Jesus’ feelings, and both uses are when someone was being prevented from coming to Him. Jesus told His disciples, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

I must admit there are times when I have been less than patient with my children when I feel stressed and exhausted. During these times, God calls us to look more closely at how Jesus treated children so we can do the same. The mother at the toy store modeled the love of Jesus. Whether we do the same with our children by looking around us at a ball field, a family gathering, school, church, or elsewhere in the community, let us look for opportunities to affirm children and make them feel important and valued. Sometimes it just takes getting down on their level to listen and make them feel seen; sometimes, a warm smile does the trick. As Jesus said, “Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to love our children like Jesus does, and thank you for Your mercy and forgiveness when we fall short. We pray Ephesians 3:17-19, that our children, “being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that they may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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