MARKS OF CHILDHOOD: PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL

Dependence:

“Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me,'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child,' to the land which You swore to their fathers? (Num 11:12 NKJV)

Credulity:

“The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps. (Prov 14:15 NKJV).

Foolishness:

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him” (Prov 22:15 NKJV).

Love of Amusement:

“The streets of the city Shall be full of boys and girls Playing in its streets” (Zech 8:5 NKJV).

Petty Complaints:

“and saying: 'We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.' (Matt 11:17 NKJV).

Need of Rulers:

“but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father (Gal 4:2 NKJV).

Fickleness:

: “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting (Eph 4:14 NKJV).

Ignorance: Spiritual Immaturity:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Heb 5:12 NKJV).

Weak Digestion:

For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Heb 5:13 NKJV)..

Conclusion:

The marks that childhood experiences leave are very difficult to change. However, this does not mean that they cannot be refined or redirected in order to change them into something positive. The first step is recognizing that they are there and that they have to be worked out so that they do not completely determine the rest of our lives.