100 Bible Verses about Being Like Children

Matthew 18:3 ESV / 65 helpful votes

And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Mark 10:13-16 ESV / 57 helpful votes

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Matthew 18:1-35 ESV / 43 helpful votes

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ...

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

1 John 3:1 ESV / 22 helpful votes

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

John 16:33 ESV / 16 helpful votes

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Matthew 19:14 ESV / 14 helpful votes

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ...

Mark 10:14 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 54:13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

1 Peter 1:8 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

Mark 9:36-37 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Psalm 127:3-5 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Matthew 18:10 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Proverbs 17:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Romans 8:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

John 15:9 ESV / 7 helpful votes

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

John 3:16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 1:12 ESV / 7 helpful votes

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Matthew 18:2-6 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

3 John 1:4 ESV / 6 helpful votes

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Colossians 3:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Mark 9:37 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Matthew 18:1-6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ...

1 Peter 2:2-3 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Romans 8:15 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Matthew 18:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them

Proverbs 29:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.

Proverbs 20:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Psalm 113:9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 103:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Psalm 8:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

1 John 5:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

1 John 3:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:2-3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

James 1:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

2 Timothy 3:14-15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Galatians 3:26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Romans 8:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Romans 8:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Romans 6:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:1-3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 21:15-16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

Matthew 19:13-15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Isaiah 49:15-16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Proverbs 29:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Proverbs 23:13-14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

Proverbs 22:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Proverbs 17:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Psalm 127:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Deuteronomy 11:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 4:40 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

1 Timothy 5:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Galatians 6:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 3:26-27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Galatians 3:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

2 Corinthians 6:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Romans 8:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

Romans 8:1-14:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

Romans 8:1-16:27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

Acts 16:31 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 16:31-32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

Acts 2:1-47 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ...

John 14:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 14:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 5:21-22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

John 3:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:2-3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

John 1:1-4:54 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ...

John 1:1-12:50 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ...

Luke 18:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Matthew 19:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?”

Matthew 18:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 7:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 5:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

Hosea 11:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Isaiah 49:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

Proverbs 22:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.

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