A Pastor’s Thoughts: ‘When I Was a Child’

[By Pastor Bill Kohler, First Baptist Church of Owego]

1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”

Poem by Eugene Field, 1888 

The little toy dog is covered with dust, but sturdy and staunch he stands, and the little toy soldier is red with rust, and his musket molds in his hands. Time was when the little toy dog was new and the soldier passing fair, and that was the time when our little boy blue kissed and put them there. And they wonder as they waited the long years through in the dust of that little chair, what has become of little boy blue since he kissed and put them there. As a child develops physically and mentally, their need for love, compassion and acceptance of Jesus becomes paramount. 

We expect childish behavior from children. Sometimes we scold them for not taking responsibility. 

There comes a time, however, when we hand over the car keys and the awesome responsibility that they will not endanger their lives or the lives of others. This is the time when the guide wires are cut and they are on their own. 

As you know, the internet contains valuable information, but also information from which they should be shielded. In the “good old days,” families would gather at the dinner table, say the blessing, and bedtime prayers were not uncommon. 

Some children do not grow up spiritually and carry sin traits into adulthood. Some of these are pouting, resentment, jealousy, boasting, bullying, and mocking. Being a responsible Christian adult is challenging, especially when they are married. 

Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way of the Lord, and when he is older, he will not depart from it.”