As A Little Child (Growing up Spiritually)

I have felt frustrated from time to time with my children as they are growing up. These young men don't always act like young men, or at least they don't act like I want them to act and what I often expect young men to act like. Often, I find myself wanting my boys to be as mature as fully grown men but still have have the playfulness of youth. When these boys don't act like that I find myself feeling frustrated and let down.

As I was pondering on this frequent scenario I had the inspired thought that in a very real sense, that is exactly how our Heavenly Father sees each of us. We all have some amazing potential, to become like He is. But all to often we don't act like those amazing gods and goddesses that we could be. Most of the time we act like spoiled children who are not happy that we are not getting our way in life.

Then I realized that we are, spiritually speaking, still in our infancy. If we can imagine the life experiences of a newborn infant through about the age of 2, we can see very interesting parallels to our growth and development. Here are a few examples:

1. A newborn baby doesn't do much except eat and sleep. These individuals are capable of becoming many important things (teachers, gymnasts, presidents, astronauts, etc.) but they don't really seem to be making much progress in any of these directions. In fact, the babies seem content to eat, sleep and cuddle and don't give much thought to their futures. AND, we don't expect them to! As we watch them we know that they will eventually grow up to be amazing individuals but we enjoy them in their infant state.

However, as adults we don't view each other spiritually in the same way. All of us are just getting started in this mortal state but spiritually we are very young and growing. We have amazing potential and some of us are not doing very much with that potential. We are content to just go about our daily lives just covering the basic needs of life. One day we will mature and grow into our potential but right now we get very frustrated with each other for not making that progress now.

2. As the babies grow into toddlers they learn to roll and eventually how to crawl. We watch them in fascination as they make progress. We get excited with each new level of moment that they master. We encourage them and take pictures and videos of each moment because we are so proud of what they can do. However, none of us would think about getting mad at this child and telling them how slow they are. We don't yell at them for not even trying to walk, let alone run sprints for the track team. We don't even have that expectation.

As adults, we don't allow each other this same opportunity spiritually. We expect every adult (especially other members of the church) to be able to "sprint" spiritually. There is an expectation that each adult will participate in every activity, contribute their time, talent and resources for any need. That they will accept any calling just because it is extended to them. We don't stop to celebrate that these same members may still be learning to roll over and crawl (spiritually speaking).

3. When the child first begins to walk they make lots of mistakes and fall repeatedly. They start to walk with the help of parents and other older siblings holding their hands and supporting them. Then they will start walking, but only along the couch or next to a walk or anywhere they can use a solid surface for support. Finally, they venture into the free space and will fall over many times as they learn to get their balance. As adults we love these first steps and celebrate them. When a child falls we immediately help them back up and encourage them to try again.

When adults fall spiritually, when they make serious mistakes, we tend to be much less forgiving of each other. We get offended and hold grudges. We begin to look down on these people as somehow being second class citizens because of their mistakes. And even though we believe in repentance and forgiveness, somehow it doesn't really wipe away all of the sin. There are stains left that somehow taint the person. But the reality is that from Heavenly Father's perspective, we are just learning to walk spiritually. And part of our learning process in mortality is learning how to see others as Heavenly Father sees them. They are just learning to walk and they are going to make mistakes and fall. Some will fall harder than others but we should be there to help pick them back up and encourage them to take the next steps, whatever they are.

This idea that we are growing spiritually is not new and I've heard it many times. But this time is has been more impactful because I realize how much I don't look at others as Heavenly Father does. I look at others (especially my own children) as fully grown and mature adults and I expect them to act as such. But they are not fully grown and mature adults (at least not spiritually, yet) and I need to realize that they are still working through this growth process. Instead of berating them for making mistakes I need to help them get back up and try again. And this is an area that will take some concentrated effort on my part, with the help of my Heavenly Father, to improve.