Matthew Chapter 18
Lord Jesus used a child to help His self-centred disciples to get the point. He want them not to be childish but childlike, with humble and sincere hearts. The disciples had become too focus about seeking the highest position instead of seeking an area where they could serve. They wanted to have power and be served like the rulers of the world.
Sometimes we could be like Jesus’ disciples or even like Pharisees seeking status over divine purpose of serving the Lord. Pride can cause us to overvalue position and status. It makes us lose focus on our eternal perspective. Wasn’t that how Satan fell?
We must renounce pride and status seeking. We should focus in glorifying God’s name in our service for Him and as humble as little children instead of glorifying our status or name.
Little children trust adults by nature and they could be easily taught or influenced. It is easy to teach a young child to be good or bad. As parents and other adults, God holds us accountable for how we influence our children.
We are to teach them the Word of God and bring them closer to God since they are young. The Lord warned that anyone who turns little children away from faith in Him will receive severe punishment.
Lord Jesus also warned the disciples about two ways to cause others to sin:
- Tempting them (Verse 7-9)
- Neglecting them (Verse 10)
We are to help young people or new believers to avoid anything or anyone that could cause them to stumble in their faith and lead them to sin. We should never take lightly religious education for those who are young in age or young in the faith.
We must remove stumbling blocks that cause us to sin. This does not mean to cut off a part of the body, because sin affects more than our physical bodies. The Lord wants us to do everything it takes to avoid being a stumbling block.
If we know that we have certain desires or weaknesses in us that would lead us to sin, we must deny ourselves of such desires, even if doing so would causes much pain.
