Anyone who has observed kids knows that kids can be messy--especially when food is involved. The peanut butter on the sandwich somehow manages to get smeared all over kids' faces. It's like the peanut butter is attracted to the face like magnets on a frig. And yes, generally these messes are imperceptible to kids. In surprise they wonder how parents knew that they had been sneaking putter butter out of the jar!
I wonder how different we are from children. Yes, we may notice the bread crumb on our shirts or the salad dressing on our lips more readily than children. And yes, we probably take action to deal with these messes more generally than children.
But how readily do we notice spiritual stains? How often do we detect our own imperfections and make needed changes to correct these? How often do we recognize the need to repent? In this respect, children have the upper-hand. They are more spiritual receptive than we are (which is one reason Jesus Christ commanded us to be like our little children).
How do we then perceive our spiritual weakness so that we can improve? While personal experiences and/or hardship are good teachers for us, as well as the observations of devoted friends or family members, our very best teacher is the One who knows us the best, even God, our Heavenly Father. He who created our bodies understands us best and is best-situated to help us improve better than any other.
This fact shouldn't be shocking or surprising. After all, isn't God our Father in Heaven? As His children, does He not know us better than any other? If we accept the fact that parents understand best the strengths and weaknesses of their children based on thoughtful observation of their behavior and that parents are the best-situated to help their children to improve than any others, should it be any different with God?
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