The Spirit Gives Us a Childlike Heart
Month 8: The Heart of Jesus · Walking in the Spirit
Today's Scripture
Read together: Romans 8:15-16
15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Memory Verse
“But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”— Mark 10:14 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Isaiah 19-22
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Even Egypt and Assyria, old enemies, are pictured one day calling on the LORD — God's heart reaches far beyond what anyone expected.)The Heart of It
All week we've seen Jesus welcome children. But how does a grown-up become childlike again? How does anyone whose heart has grown hard or scared get there? You can't just decide to feel like a trusting little one. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. Paul writes, "You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" Abba is the warm, close word a small child uses. It means something like "Daddy." The Holy Spirit doesn't just inform you that God is your Father. He puts the cry of a beloved child right in your heart. So you actually run to God instead of hiding from Him in fear.
That is the secret of walking in the Spirit. It isn't gritting your teeth to try to feel childlike. It is letting the Spirit make you into a child of God from the inside. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." When you've sinned and feel like running away, the Spirit nudges you back toward the Father's open arms. When you feel small and afraid, He reminds you that you belong. This is good news for every age at this table. God doesn't want a household of nervous strangers tiptoeing around Him. By His Spirit, He is making us a family of children who climb right up into His lap and call Him "Father."
Around the Table
The Holy Spirit helps you know that God is your loving Daddy in heaven. He is close, He is kind, and He is always glad you came to Him!
Let's do it: Cup your hands by your mouth and call out softly together, "Abba, Father!" That means "Daddy God."
Paul says the Spirit gives us a "spirit of adoption" instead of fear. What is the difference between being scared of God and running TO God like a loving Dad?
Let's talk: When you mess up, do you tend to hide, or do you run to God? How could the Holy Spirit help with that?
The Spirit doesn't just tell you facts about God. He "bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." That inner assurance is the Spirit's work, and it grows as we abide in Christ ().
Let's go deeper: How is being God's child by the Spirit different from just trying really hard to be religious?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's the difference between how you talk to a stranger and how you talk to someone in our family you totally trust? Which one is the way God wants us to come to Him?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Some say faith is just a feeling we work up in our own minds. But Paul describes something we can't manufacture. It is the Spirit Himself bearing witness inside us that we belong to God (). It is not us talking ourselves into it. It is God's own Spirit assuring His children. Many believers across history have known that witness to be real.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Notice how Paul frames the two ways we can relate to God. There is the "spirit of bondage... to fear," and there is "the Spirit of adoption." A lot of dads were raised under the first. They learned to see God as a distant boss to be appeased, and faith as nervous performance. And we pass that posture on without meaning to. But the Spirit's work is to replace fear with the cry "Abba, Father." Here is the searching part. Your children's first picture of "Father" is you. If they experience you as warm, approachable, and quick to welcome them back after failure, the gospel of a tender heavenly Father will make immediate sense. If they experience you as cold or hard to please, they'll fight that distortion their whole lives. You can't generate the Spirit's witness in their hearts. But you can stop contradicting it. Ask the Spirit to fill you afresh with the cry "Abba" tonight, and let that overflow into how you father.
Draws on: Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God.
Let's Pray Together
"Abba, Father, thank You that by Your Spirit we can call You that. Take away our fear. Give us the trusting heart of Your children. Holy Spirit, fill us, and remind us every day that we belong to You. In Jesus' name, amen."
By the Spirit I can run to God and call Him "Abba." I'm His child, not His stranger.