It is well-documented that children learn to trust as physical and emotional needs are met consistently.There appears to be a striking difference in how trust develops in the human spirit.
It is as if there is a full allotment of spiritual trust as children start out, and withdrawals are then made on the trust account.
Spiritual trust and language learning share many properties.
We are born with the ability to say all the sounds of every language. At the point where the brain starts to form speech, we discard the sounds that are not a part of the language we learn.
From this point on we can still learn new languages but the later in life we learn them the more an accent is detectable. (Current research shows that children who learn more than one language at this critical point also create certain other benefits in the brain.)
Young children trust readily.
It’s part of our original blueprint that we possess the necessary trust to be connected with the divine. The human spirit stirs in response to the presence of the divine apart from the influence of external circumstances or people.
Children have no problem believing in what they cannot see.
Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, God, and imaginary friends come to mind.
Yet when a caregiver tells the child there is a tooth fairy and they later discover that there isn’t one, spiritual trust could diminish. When they watch a movie about Santa Claus and believe, only to discover later that is not true, another withdrawal could be taken from the account. Parents know what each of their children can handle.
How can we help keep their spirit’s trust account full?
We respect and honor their trust when we present a description of God that is deserving of their trust. Through our own actions and words we make known that God loves everyone, God knows everything and God cares about us.
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Children start life with a full allotment of trust in spiritual things until we make withdrawals. Click to Tweet