Being childlike before God is a good thing. Jesus said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Being childish at forty is a different animal.

Paul says the goal is “that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Scripture gives us at least three ways to spot a spiritual child.

#1 – He is easy to knock over. Every video, every podcast, and every preacher on Facebook can move a Christian who never put roots down in the Word. Peter warned us not to “lose your own stability” (2 Peter 3:17).

#2 – He is still on the bottle. Milk is good for a new Christian (1 Peter 2:2). Twenty years of milk is not good. “For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child” (Hebrews 5:13). Scripture is daily bread, not a snack.

#3 – He fusses and keeps score. Corinth had gifts to spare, but Paul still called them “infants in Christ” because of “jealousy and strife” (1 Corinthians 3:1, 3). If you keep a list of who did not speak to you in the foyer, that is not your personality talking. That is a diet problem.

Here is the good news. Children are supposed to grow. By the grace of God, every one of us still can.

Pick the one of those three that stings the most. Tell God about it tonight, plainly, and ask Him to help you outgrow it.

Just some thoughts,

Chris