Stimulating Spiritual Growth in Infants

No matter how oblivious a person seems during their first year of life, they are a person nonetheless. Maybe that sounds like a funny thing to say, but it has profound ramifications! This is perhaps the most critical stage in human development because many of the most essential foundations are laid for the child’s mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual future.

First, we must realize that even though the baby does not have the capacity for logical thought, they are not completely devoid of thoughts. They recognize people and respond emotionally. They sense hunger and cry for food. They may not be able to communicate with words or complete thoughts, but they are fully human people with minds of their own.

Now, as Christians we know that human beings are not merely built of a physical mind and body—rather, we consist of a body, a soul, and a spirit. Even though the soul may not be up-to-par with those of adults, we can’t discount the reality of their mind, will, and emotions, which are all three parts of the soul. In the same way, we also cannot deny the reality of their human spirit.

The Spirit of a Baby

From a Christian standpoint, there is evidence of babies having an active human spirit from even before their birth. In the Bible, we can look at the example of Mary visiting Elizabeth. Here comes Mary, bearing in her womb the Lord Jesus; and as she greets her cousin Elizabeth, the yet unborn “John the Baptist” leaps for joy (Luke 1:41-44). Even while both babies were still in the womb, little John the Baptist could already sense the presence of Jesus.

From a secular standpoint, Thomas Verny, M.D., wrote a book titled The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, which details extensive research into how human beings are psychologically, emotionally, and socially affected by circumstances and situations during the mother’s pregnancy.

Verny starts Chapter Nine of his book by saying that medical science has proven that newborns arrive in our world with what appears to be “a breathtaking array of emotional, intellectual, and physical capacities.” He goes on to make a case for infants already possessing a personality when emerging from the womb, citing a 10-year-long study. He even discusses one study (among many others) that “demonstrates conclusively the presence of well-developed (one could say adult) thinking, including the handling of abstract ideas in the newborn.”

Verny and other doctors admit that they’re unsure how all this works (or why it even happens at all). While some things can be attributed to genetics, the rest is considered an enigma. But as Christians, we can see the divine hand of God at work, writing the blueprint of each person’s identity into the spirit He has breathed into each of us.

Genesis 2:7—…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (NIV).
Job 33:4—The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life (NIV).
Acts 17:25—And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else (NIV).

Stimulating Spiritual Growth in Babies

The first year of life is agreeably the most foundational period of human development. Unfortunately, the vast majority (if not all) of the textbooks on the matter neglect to convey truth about the baby’s spiritual development. Babies need direct spiritual nurture just as much as adults. We simply need to realize that they don’t function like adults, and so ministry to an infant takes on a different form. There’s no sense preaching to them or trying to unfold theological mysteries. Babies need a different kind of spiritual food just like they need different physical food.

As far as direct spiritual nurture goes, the best we can do is expose the baby to the presence of God. Let the child learn from a young age to recognize God’s presence. This can be done by taking the baby to church, praying over him, singing worship songs as you hold him in your arms, and so forth.

Since our body, soul, and spirit are so intricately intertwined, we quickly discover that directly nurturing one aspect will indirectly nurture another. As we directly nurture their spirit in the ways mentioned, we simultaneously help affect their emotions and physical development. Likewise, when we care for a baby’s physical and emotional needs, their spirit gets fed.

Developmental theorist Erik Erikson concluded that during the first year of life, a baby learns either trust or mistrust. During this stage of life, infants learn to trust others on a deep inner level. If their needs are being met, they can develop a healthy sense of self-worth. If they are neglected, they may grow up to mistrust others. Meeting a baby’s needs will nurture their spirit and cultivate their capacity for trusting others later in life. But failing to meet those needs can wound their spirit and cause them to hide in isolation as they grow up.

Clearly, it is important to meet a baby’s needs, but this raises yet another question: What are their needs? Another developmental theorist, Jean Piaget, tells us that an infant forms his or her concept of the world through the five senses. They live in a sensory world where everything is based on impulses, sensations, feelings, perceptions, and so forth. And as such, their needs are primarily related to sensations—are they sleepy? Are they hungry? Are they wet? Are they frustrated? Angry? Scared? Happy? Excited? And as these many sensations flood their little minds with input, there is always a need attached.
Some of those needs are obvious—if they’re hungry, they need you to feed them. Some, however, are more subtle. For instance, when the child is happy, we sometimes don’t pay as much attention to them; but they still need our care and attention. A happy baby is not a cause for a break—it’s an encouragement to keep taking good care of her.

As we seek to meet a baby’s sensory needs, we nurture their spirit and help them learn to trust. But there’s more to it than that. During the first six months of life, a child’s sole responsibility is simply to be. These first few months of a person’s life help one establish the validity of his or her existence. When a baby is not nurtured, she struggles with the concept that she is wanted, which directly affects her self-esteem. Conversely, if she is nurtured, she will feel welcomed and validated in her existence, laying a foundation for a healthy self concept.

How Much Love is Too Much Love?

One of the most important things to know when caring for infants is that it is impossible to “spoil” a baby. You can’t show them too much love or over-pamper them. You can’t possibly hold them too much, talk to them too much, sing to them too much, or kiss them too often. The baby doesn’t have a clue what it means to manipulate you—if they want attention, it’s because they need attention.

Some babies are needier than others, but that’s not a reason to try making them more independent. Babies don’t need to learn how to function without you—they couldn’t if they wanted to. Babies don’t need to learn to survive without you—they can’t. What babies need is loving attention from family and other caregivers that helps assure them of their validity in this world and helps them learn to trust. That way, when they’re older and the time comes for you to leave them at school or with a babysitter, you can tell them it’ll be okay, and they’ll believe you because they are comfortable with trust. If you don’t build that trust early on, then they won’t trust you as easily when you try to assure them later in life.

While it is true that in teaching a baby to trust, you can’t possibly spoil them, this statement needs to be tempered with a bit of moderation. When trust is taught appropriately, the child also learns the foundational skills of problem solving. That’s right! Even though you can’t spoil a baby by showing too much love, you can keep them from learning some basic problem-solving techniques if they never have the opportunity to perceive their needs.

How? Well, it comes in the format of “feel-think-do.” As adults, we feel (or perceive) a problem, think about how to solve it, and then take action to solve that problem. This process is first encountered as an infant when we recognize a need, cry, and then discover a solution.

In an infant’s life, this is best learned in the feeding process. The baby gets hungry, which causes her stomach to contract. This doesn’t feel very good, so she cries. When a caregiver responds with food, the baby is then responsible to take action by sucking, thus meeting her need. This is the one case where a baby can take action to meet her own need—that is, of course, with the help of the caregiver. If the caregiver does not respond with food, then the baby does not have the opportunity to take action in solving her problem.

Realistically, most of a baby’s needs cannot wait for crying. If a baby is wet, you certainly can’t wait until he cries from rash or infection—that would be abuse. Additionally, you shouldn’t wait for a baby to cry before you pick him up and hold him. The point is simply that it’s okay for a baby to cry, so long as you meet his need—especially when it comes to food because in this case, sucking is the solution rather than crying. Thus the child learns to solve his own problem, which will help him take action in problem solving later in life.

In all this, we have to remain developmentally appropriate. An infant is not at all ready to even attempt independence. That time doesn’t really come until she starts to crawl and explore her world around the age of six months. But even then, she’s not ready to move out and get a job—she still needs plenty of nurture and care to help her be who she is now rather than who she is going to be.

There’s no sense trying to make an elementary school-age child do high school work. Likewise, it would be silly to make a toddler do elementary school work. And in the same way, it makes no sense to push a baby to behave like a toddler. Each child will show signs that they’re ready to be independent when the time comes for that. Until then, the baby needs to be a baby. Remember, one of the most important things at this stage is for the baby to simply be. They need to learn to be secure in their existence—not pushed to be anything else. They don’t need to drive a car, and they don’t need to be independent. They need to be a baby, and they therefore need you.

With that said, the baby does not need constant attention from Mom and Dad. Sometimes someone else can take over: a responsible sibling, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a neighbor, a friend, or a child care professional. Other times, if the baby is content, it’s okay to let him sit alone for a short while (with supervision, of course). The important part is that all of the baby’s needs continue to be met—body, soul, and spirit.

Dealing with the Sinful Condition

We hate the thought of a baby being sinful, but it is nevertheless a biblical fact. Because Adam and Eve sinned so long ago, we are all born into sin. This does not necessarily condemn infants to hell—God has promised that He will have mercy on whom He’ll have mercy and compassion on whomever He chooses. God is a loving Father who will sort all these things out according to His own wisdom, kindness, and compassion. We don’t have to concern ourselves with matters such as these—we simply need to realize that we’re all born with a sinful nature that needs to be redeemed by Jesus Christ.

Even more difficult for us than accepting the fact of a baby’s sinful nature is the idea that a baby is capable of actually committing sin. While their body and soul seem to be developing in innocence, their spirit is still able to sin. That’s right: your human spirit is capable of sin. Psalm 32:2 says that one can have deceit in their spirit. In Psalm 51:10, David asks God to renew a steadfast spirit within Him, implying that the current state of his spirit is faltering. Likewise, the Lord told Ezekiel in chapter 36:26 that He would give Israel a new heart and a new spirit to replace their current heart of stone. And in 2 Corinthians 7:1, the Apostle Paul admonishes us to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of…spirit.”

Now, if a baby has a functional human spirit then that spirit is capable of activity just as much as their body and soul. There may not be a lot of activity at this young age, but some activity is still activity! And if the spirit of a baby is capable of activity, then it is also capable of sin just like the rest of us. The Bible even mentions this about babies.

Psalm 58:3—Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies (NIV).
Isaiah 48:8b—…Well do I know how treacherous you are; you were called a rebel from birth (NIV).

Also consider the story of the man born blind. While we often try to explain it away as naivety on the part of the disciples, they asked a question of Jesus that seems to suggest the possibility of sinning within the womb. In John 9:2, the disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus’ response is interesting. He doesn’t rebuke them for the “silly notion” of a person sinning before they were born, and He doesn’t say that sin cannot cause a physical problem. He simply says in this case that neither sinned, and then He goes on to explain God’s purpose and heal the man. Maybe the disciples weren’t as clueless here as we often make them out to be—perhaps they were basing their question on the scriptures mentioned above.

Regardless of the interpretation of John 9:2, the other two scriptures mentioned still remain as evidence of babies being capable of sin. And while those scriptures speak of waywardness, deceit, treachery, and rebellion, perhaps the most common form of sin carried out in the spirit of an infant is actually judging.

The human spirit is capable of experiencing and forming judgments about people and the world even when the human brain still cannot process those experiences. As we’ve already discussed, science has proven that babies can form judgments from even inside the womb. These judgments are purely based on perception rather than reality. Sometimes things work out—the baby is loved by mom, and the baby perceives love from mom; then he forms the judgment that mom loves him. But what about when the mother cannot (or does not) convey love to her baby? Potentially, the baby may decide that he is not loved—whether or not it’s true—and even start to hate or resent his mother. Thus his pursuit of understanding the world has evolved into a judgment and condemnation that could potentially cause problems for the rest of his life unless there is intervention from God.

Clearly, Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can heal these inner wounds later in life; but we’re not dealing with that in this teaching. Our purpose here is to figure out how to provide the most effective ministry to infants, which brings us to a sobering scripture:

Luke 17:1-2—Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin (NIV).

As a caregiver, you have the capacity to either convey the love of Christ and nurture a baby’s spirit, or you can neglect the baby’s spiritual growth and possibly lead her into sin. Perhaps she’ll judge you. Perhaps she’ll hate you. Perhaps you’ll throw her into a fit of rage. Ministry to infants is an awesome responsibility. You don’t have the luxury of explaining yourself or offering excuses. You’ve got one shot to impact them for eternity, and God will hold you directly responsible for any sin you might have caused a baby to commit.

That’s why, as caregivers, we need to constantly cry out for grace from God. Apart from His grace, we will only have one failure after the next; but with His grace, we can be beautiful representations of Christ to the babies we care for. You can expect to fail now and then; but if you’re asking for grace, God can shield the baby and protect her from being wounded. As long as we think we can raise the child on our own, we will fall miserably; but we can do all things through Christ.

The only way to convey the Gospel to babies is through direct contact. If you want to teach a baby that God loves him, then you need to start by showing him what love is. If you want him to trust God in the future, then you need to help the baby develop the capacity for trust. If you want him to understand that he has a destiny and a purpose, then you need to nurture the child’s identity by simply helping him to be.

All these things require great care and loving attention working hand-in-hand with the grace of God through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to rely on God and seek Him for help. And then we need to be an active part of the baby’s life. We need to feed her, clothe her, change her, bathe her, hold her, talk to her, sing to her, rock her, dance with her, walk with her, read to her, play with her, and more. When an infant is placed in our care, we become agents of God charged with the responsibility of representing Him and helping one of His children to understand love, trust, and personal validity. The physical, emotional, and spiritual nurture that you provide will till the ground in a baby’s heart so that the seeds of the Gospel will find good fertile soil when the time comes.