神喜爱小孩，他们每一个都是按神的形像被造的。
在伊甸园里，就是在罪仍未进入世界之前，神造了有身体和灵魂的人，衪又造男造女，在世上反映衪的形像。神托付人治理这个世界，发扬文化，和生养众多。我们被造，目的是要在全地彰显神的荣耀。
因此，人需要养育他们所生的孩子，使他们成为神国的子民，并且使用他们的恩赐来荣耀神，这是神托付给所有为人父母的重要使命。
无论是与生俱来的或后天培育的，小孩子的身与灵，通常都像他们的父母。假若父母之间，没有效法神的牺牲的爱，以致能克服彼此之间的分歧，孩子定会困于这些分裂与不和谐的气氛中，毕竟他们是在这种的气氛中成长过来的。
这就是神在玛拉基那个年代看到的境况了。神向来期望我们成为虔诚的后代，成为一个以自我牺牲的精神来爱衪和事奉衪的儿女。可惜在今日的世代，情形恰恰相反。
今天，你会以怎样的态度对待耶稣和你周围的小孩？你的态度是否能够帮助你、也能帮助他们更亲近耶稣呢？
（注）：为配合本文内容，经文翻译没有根据和合本，改用了另一个启导本建议的中文译法。
亲爱的耶稣，求祢以祢的爱充满我们，又让我们的家庭和外面的人也同样感受得到。奉耶稣名祷告，阿们。
玛拉基书 2:15-16
15虽然神有灵的余力能造多人，他不是单造一人吗？为何只造一人呢？乃是他愿人得虔诚的后裔。所以当谨守你们的心，谁也不可以诡诈待幼年所娶的妻。"Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring." — Malachi 2:15
God loves children. Every child is made in the image of God.
In the garden of Eden, even before sin entered he world, God made people as body and spirit together, and he made male and female to reflect his image in the world. God commissioned people to care for his world, to cultivate culture, and to be fruitful and multiply. We were designed to reflect God's glory everywhere.
As a result, the children people produce are to be raised as citizens of God's kingdom, using their gifts to glorify God. That is the core calling of all parents.
Whether by nature or by nurture, a baby usually closely resembles his or her parents, both physically and spiritually. If the parents cannot overcome their differences by means of a self-sacrificing love modeled after God's love, then the child will often be burdened with a spirit of division and disharmony. After all, that's what he or she will grow up with.
That's what God was seeing in Malachi's day. God's desire for us, always, is that we be godly offspring, children who love and serve him in a self-sacrificing way. In our world today, much of the opposite is taking place.
What kind of spirit will you give Jesus today, as well as to the children around you? Will it be a spirit that helps both you and them grow closer to Jesus?
Dear Jesus, please fill us with your love, and make it contagious in our families and beyond. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
