Matthew 18:5 · World English Bible
Matthew 18:5 Meaning Whoever Receives One Such Little Child
Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me,
What does Matthew 18:5 mean?
To welcome the little child is to welcome the part of the mind that has not yet learned to defend itself, the innocence that fear has not covered over. When a mind receives this in another, offering no judgment and asking nothing back, it is not being kind to a stranger; it is meeting the same innocence in itself.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Matthew 18:5 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
To welcome the little child is to welcome the part of the mind that has not yet learned to defend itself, the innocence that fear has not covered over. When a mind receives this in another, offering no judgment and asking nothing back, it is not being kind to a stranger; it is meeting the same innocence in itself. What is small and unguarded in one is small and unguarded in all, for the Son of God is not divided into the important and the overlooked.
So the welcome is a choice of teacher. A mind that receives the child chooses love, and in that choosing recognizes the face of Christ where it thought only weakness stood. To honor innocence anywhere is to remember it everywhere, and the one who greets it greets the truth of what he is.
Little child: the part of the mind untouched by the ego's defenses, innocence before guilt has learned to hide it
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Live Matthew 18:5 today
- Be gentle with the part of you that feels youngest and least capable today. Speak to it the way you would speak to a kid who tried hard and got it wrong.
- Give full attention to someone who usually gets none, the new person, the quiet one in the thread, the kid telling a long story at dinner. Put the phone down for it.
- When someone is awkward or out of their depth in front of you today, cover for them instead of letting them stand there alone.
Who around me is unguarded, and how do I meet them?
The same truth in other traditions
Sufism · Rumi
Treat the one who arrives at your door as a guest sent on purpose. The way you receive them is the way you receive yourself.
Judaism · Hasidic teaching
Every person carries a spark worth bowing to. Welcoming the smallest among us is not charity, it is accurate seeing.
Buddhism
Loving kindness is not divided into deserving and undeserving. Offered to one, it is offered to all, including the giver.
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