𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹.- They are more than what you can see

𝘞𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦.

Children are precious to God; He doesn't take their matters lightly. Throughout Jesus' ministry on earth, He prioritized ministering to children; never once will he rebuke them.

While going through the book of Matthew last night, a particular part struck me. It felt like I hadn't noticed it before. It was as if my eyes were opened to something significant about children.

Children hold a special place in God's heart, which is why, as adults, we must be careful in how we handle them because their Father cares deeply for them!

Starting with parents—parenting, as @favour often says, is a ministry. It's not something we can do on our own; we need God's wisdom.

𝙏𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨:

📍 Treat your children with care and affection.

📍 Pray for them because they are entrusted to you by God.

📍 Teach them what is right; it's your ministry, and you will be held accountable.

📍 Nurture and train them to be useful for God and their community.

📍 Be mindful of your actions around them; they learn by example.

📍 Teach them to love God and their neighbors.

Matthew 18:6 says, 

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦? 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢."

Jesus still cares deeply for these little ones. Abusers, beware! Whether you're a parent who tears down your children with words or worse, you need to be cautious.

Also, if you are a child molester and when you see little children, your only thought is how to harm them, you really need to stop! It's crucial that you change before it's too late.

𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

Never underestimate children. Though they may be small, they have a mighty God. So, you see, they aren't small.

#aladyofrarevirtue