Babies, babies, babies! Benjamin and I don’t have any of our own, but we happen to have quite a few nieces and nephews, including a brand new baby nephew! Most of them are toddlers nowadays, but they were pretty cute babies once upon a time, and I had some fun going through some old pictures today.

You know, the Bible talks a lot about babies. And here’s what it tells us we can learn from them:

1. Babies get hungry. And when they are hungry, they know exactly what they want and where to get it.

The Bible says that’s how we should be about the Word of God. 1 Peter 2:1-3 says, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” We should want the truth of God’s Word as desperately as the nearest red-faced, screaming baby wants her milk because we know that we need it to grow and because we love to remind ourselves of the grace of God.

2. Babies know who they trust and who they don’t. We’re not talking newborn here because they are barely figuring out that other people are a thing, but older babies, they know.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and they know me, and they follow me” (John 10:27). How do babies know who their parents are? They spend a lot of time with them and learn to fully trust them. We should be spending so much time with our Savior, in prayer and in His Word, that we can fully trust Him and that we become wary of anything that isn’t quite like Him. We should be able to recognize His voice as He prompts us and not get anything else confused with it.

3. Babies love life. They really do. There’s a video of one of our nieces just cracking up every time her cousin says her name. Then there’s a video of another really busting some dance moves, and the other day I was bouncing yet another niece up and down while she just screamed with laughter.

God loves laughter. He wants us to enjoy this life and all the little pleasures he has put into it for us. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine.” Plus, Psalm 16:11 reminds us that there is abundant joy in the Lord. It says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Finally, James 1:17 says that the good in our life comes from God. It says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” So love life, have a good laugh, and praise God for His blessings.

4. Little ones are honest. (And actually this one’s a toddler, not a baby, but you know it’s true about babies too once they start to talk.) One of our other nieces was reading a book to herself when she was about 2. She flipped one of the pages over and then said excitedly to her very pregnant mother, “Look! Das you! Oh, no das a hippo.”

There are certainly lots of Biblical commands to be honest! But we should maybe remember from the kiddos around us that we need to make sure we are “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

5. Babies don’t understand their world. When any of our baby nieces get shots at the doctor, they come home (according to Facebook pictures), crying and hurting and really kind of confused. They don’t know why that big, mean doctor just stabbed their arm or why in the world their mommy held her down to help him. It doesn’t make any sense, it just hurt.

But those shots are good for babies. Just like hard times are good for us. The shots protect the babies from getting sick, and hard times are used by God to teach us to lean on Him more, show us parts of our personalities that need rooting out, help us to long more for Heaven, or whatever else God has in mind. In the middle of the pain, we can’t understand what’s going on or why or how it could possibly be a good thing, but God promises that He will “work all things together for good” (Romans 8:28) and Romans 5:3-4 tell us that we should, “also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

6. Babies are fearless. At one of those aforementioned family get togethers, someone turned on a sprinkler for all of the kids. They all ran outside excitedly, but when they got there, the older ones were kind of scared of it. They were all hanging around outside the edges, when suddenly, one of the little babies, barely walking, rushed right in, grinning.

How many times does God tell us to fear not because He’s protecting us? 2 Timothy 1:7, for example, says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” When God wants us to do something, we should power out there with His strength and without a single bit of fear because, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

The Bible talks many times about how precious little babies are. Their need for their parents is an example to us of our utter need and dependance on God. Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” So celebrate and enjoy all of the children in your life. They are one of God’s many blessings.

Then let us know if watching them has been an example to you of any other spiritual truths!