What If Growing Up Is the Problem?

 Rediscovering Wonder, Trust, and the Kingdom of God

What if the greatest obstacle to experiencing God's Kingdom isn't your past, your failures, or even your doubts?

What if it's simply the way you've learned to be a grown-up?

In this thought-provoking episode of Beyond Belief, we explore one of Jesus' most surprising teachings:

"Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." — Matthew 18:3

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us exchanged wonder for worry, trust for control, and joy for performance. We became responsible—but often forgot how to truly live.

Jesus never asked us to become childish. He invited us to become childlike.

Join us as we rediscover the freedom of childlike faith, the beauty of trusting our Heavenly Father, and the life-changing reality of living in the Kingdom of God today.

 In this episode you'll discover:

• Why Jesus called adults to become like children.
 • The difference between being childish and childlike.
• How fear, control, and pride keep us from experiencing God's Kingdom.
• Why wonder is essential to spiritual growth.
• Practical ways to rediscover joy, trust, and freedom in your daily walk with Christ.
• How childlike faith transforms the way we pray, worship, and live.

 Key Scriptures

📖 Matthew 18:1–5
 📖 Matthew 19:13–15
 📖 Mark 10:13–16
 📖 1 Corinthians 13:11

 Sticky Truth

"Growing older is automatic. Growing softer is intentional."

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to rediscover the wonder of following Jesus.

 Listen & Connect

🌐 Podcast Website:
 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561036

🎧 Spotify:
 https://open.spotify.com/show/5UYxxzqTBEjnjZdMP1ijBC

🍎 Apple Podcasts:
 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-belief/id1857192043

📘 Facebook:
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585831259171

▶️ YouTube:
 https://youtube.com/@harduspretorius?si=qHOmxEcdZaM2Z_hs

❤️ Support the Show:
 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561036/support

Thank you for listening to Beyond Belief—where faith moves beyond information and becomes transformation. Together, we're rediscovering the heart of God, one conversation at a time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Have you noticed that children can turn a cardboard box into a castle, a stick into a sword, an empty field into an entire universe. They don't need permission. They don't need certainty. They don't need applause. They simply enter the story. But somewhere along the journey, many of us traded wonder for worry, imagination for information, and trust for control. Jesus once said something so shocking that his own disciples struggled to understand it. Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Not childish, childlike. There is a difference. Today we're exploring that difference. Because maybe the kingdom isn't waiting for us someday. Maybe we've simply forgotten how to see it. Welcome to Beyond Belief. What if growing up has actually made us worse at living? What if becoming mature has quietly stolen something sacred? When was the last time you laughed until your stomach hurt? When was the last time you looked at the stars without checking your phone? When was the last time you trusted somebody completely? Or believed something impossible simply because love made it believable? Children don't ask, What's the return investment? They ask, can we do it again? Maybe. That's closer to the kingdom than we think. Welcome everyone. I'm so grateful you've chosen to spend these few minutes with me. Whether you're driving, walking, making coffee, or simply trying to make sense of life, thank you for being here. This podcast exists for one reason: to move beyond merely believing ideas about Jesus and into experiencing the life He actually offers. Because Christianity was never meant to be merely correct, it was always meant to be alive. Today, we're talking about becoming more childlike without becoming childish, because one opens doors to heaven and the other quietly locks it. A few months ago, I watched a little boy playing in the rain. No umbrella, no shoes, no concern whatsoever that his clothes were completely soaked. Every puddle was an adventure, every splash was a celebration. Meanwhile, the adults nearby, running, protecting phones, complaining about traffic, checking weather apps, telling us what we could already see. One child, twenty adults. Guess which one looked more alive? I caught myself smiling. Then something uncomfortable happened. I realized I used to be that boy. Somewhere between responsibilities, deadlines, expectations, paying bills, and trying to hold everything together, I had stopped noticing puddles. I had become efficient, but not joyful, responsible, but not restful, busy, but not truly alive. Here's the strange thing. Growing older is unavoidable. Growing harder isn't. Let's be honest. Most of us have confused adulthood with anxiety. We've mistaken seriousness for maturity. We've believed that carrying the weight of the world somehow makes us wiser. It doesn't. Sometimes it just makes us tired. Some of us have become experts at planning, but beginners at trusting, experts at analyzing, but beginners at worship, experts at performing, but beginners at receiving. We know how to survive. But have we forgotten how to wonder? Imagine God handing you a box of crayons. How many of us would ask, What are the rules? A five-year-old? He's already drawing. Listen carefully to Jesus. Matthew 18, verse 3. Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Notice, Jesus never said, Become childish. Paul later writes in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 11. There it is. Childishness and childlikeness are completely different. Childishness says, It's all about me. Childlikeness says, I trust my father. Childishness demands. Childlikeness receives. Childishness manipulates. Childlikeness believes. Childishness clings to pride. Childlikeness lives in wonder. Imagine standing in a massive cathedral. Everyone whispers. Everyone looks serious. Then a little girl notices sunlight streaming through stained glass and she begins dancing. The adults are embarrassed. Heaven is probably smiling. Jesus also said in Matthew 19, verse 14, Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Why? Because children are something adults forget. They receive. They don't earn affection. They don't negotiate love. They simply climb into their father's lap. Religion often teaches us earn God's approval. Jesus says, receive it. Maybe God isn't asking you today to become stronger. Maybe he's inviting you to become softer. Maybe your breakthrough isn't hidden inside another strategy. Maybe it's waiting inside surrender. Some of us have spent years trying to impress God, while all along he's simply been saying, Come here. What childish habits still control us? Comparison, control, offense, bitterness, needing to win every argument, always having to be right, fear of looking foolish. Children recover from embarrassment in seconds. Adults sometimes carry it for decades. In a few moments, I'll tell you the one sentence that completely changes how I read Jesus' words about becoming like a child. So stay with me. Imagine what tomorrow would look like if you trusted God the way a child trusts a loving father. How different would you pray? How differently would you forgive? How differently would you sleep tonight? How differently would you worship? Maybe faith isn't complicated. Maybe we've complicated faith. Picture yourself standing on a shoreline. You've been carrying bags, heavy bags, fear, shame, performance, control. Jesus walks towards you, smiling, not disappointed, not impatient. He simply says, You don't have to carry those anymore. One by one, you place them down. And suddenly, you remember what freedom feels like. Here's the sentence. Children don't struggle to enter the kingdom because they haven't yet learned to build walls around their hearts. Adults spend years constructing walls. Jesus spends years lovingly taking them down. Listen again. Matthew 18. Unless you change. The Greek word literally carries the idea of turning around, changing direction, becoming different. Maybe becoming childlike isn't going backwards. Maybe it's finally becoming who you were always created to be. Perhaps the kingdom isn't hidden. Perhaps our grown-up eyes have simply forgotten how to see it. Maybe heaven isn't asking for perfection. It's asking for trust. Maybe God has never been waiting for a polished version of you. He's been waiting for the real you, the laughing you, the trusting you, the hopeful you, the child beneath the armor. Because man is most himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. Imagine meeting Jesus one day. You expect questions about accomplishments. Instead, he asks, Did you learn to love? Did you trust me? Did you enjoy the life I gave you? Maybe those were the important questions all along. Here are three things to remember. Childishness grows old, childlikeness grows deep. Secondly, wonder is not immaturity, it's spiritual vision. And lastly, trust is stronger than control. So, this week, I want you to do one thing. Notice wonder. Watch a sunset, laugh without apologizing, play with your children, throw a ball with your grandson, dance in the kitchen, sing louder at church, pray honestly, trust again. Not because life is easy, because your father is good. Don't ask, what should I do? Ask, who am I becoming? Because lasting change always follows identity. Wonder is not weakness, it's worship. Mature people trust deeply. The kingdom opens where control ends. Childlike faith grows strong because it rests in a stronger father. Growing older is automatic. Growing softer is intentional. May you rediscover holy wonder. May your heart become lighter than your schedule. May your prayers become simpler. May your trust become deeper. May your laughter return. May your eyes notice miracles hidden inside ordinary days. And may you become less childish and beautifully, courageously childlike. Thank you for joining me on Beyond Belief. If today's conversation encouraged you, would you share it with someone who has forgotten how to wonder? Leave a review, subscribe, and remember, the kingdom of God is not merely a destination, it's a way of seeing. Until next time, keep looking beyond belief and discover the life Jesus always intended. Maybe heaven doesn't begin the day we die. Maybe it begins the moment we trust our Father enough to play again. Grace and peace to you. God bless.