A challenging question...

I was asked this question on the blog last week...

How can you call your baby daughter a sinner? Surely she's done nothing to be regretful of...

It's a great question; thanks for asking, because there's probably a few people out there wondering the same thing. My daughter isn't a particularly bad kid - in fact she's been a very easy baby - contented, sweet-natured and lots of fun. So how can I call her a sinner?

In many ways, she hasn't done anything willfully wrong. She's spent her eight months of life doing exactly what babies do - demanding her needs get met. If she's hungry, she lets me know about it... she can scream the place down! Her little world revolves around her... when she wants/needs something, there's no thought of anyone else's needs, or of patience while Mama just finishes what she's doing. She wants her needs met and she wants them met now. She's no different from any other baby on the planet...

But that's exactly the point. My daughter is wired to be self-centred. There's nothing she can do about that... she was born that way. She was born to want her way and, now that she's hitting eight months, I'm starting to see that surface in more willful decisions (whereas previously it was needs based) She delights in pulling on the curtains while I'm changing her nappy, even though she's starting to realise that displeases Mama, she will repeatedly do something I've told her not to... and when you look in her eyes, you can see she understands, she knows... Ask any parent on the planet - they didn't teach their children to be disobedient... its every child's nature to push boundaries!

Sin is literally self-centredness. Its putting ourselves and our needs before others, and ultimately, before God. My daughter was born sinful - she can't help it because she was born from a sinful Mum and Dad into a sinful world.

I praise God every day that he sent Jesus to free us from the sin that entangles each and every one of us... even our little ones.

If you still have questions, please keep posting them... I'd love to talk to you more about it.