--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are children, perhaps, at the very…" description: "\"We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us - not because we have deserved his love and not in s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png" --- # We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know… ![“We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us - not because we have deserved his love and not in spite of our undeserving; not because we try and not because we recognize the futility of our trying; but simply because he has chosen to love us…” quote by Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png) > “We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us - not because we have deserved his love and not in spite of our undeserving; not because we try and not because we recognize the futility of our trying; but simply because he has chosen to love us. We are children because he is our father; and all of our efforts, fruitful and fruitless, to do good, to speak truth, to understand, are the efforts of children who, for all their precocity, are children still in that before we loved him, he loved us, as children, through Jesus Christ our lord.” [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. God’s love is unconditional, likened to a child’s pure, unearned affection, inviting us to trust and love without merit. **In simple terms:** God loves us unconditionally. Key Takeaway Trust in love that isn’t earned. Themes faith unconditional love childlike trust spirituality Mood reverent hopeful Type spiritual inspirational When to use this quote - worship - personal crisis - parenting - community building Key Concepts theology psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice childlike trust in daily life? - What does unconditional love mean for you? A Different Perspective Human tendency to seek merit can hinder acceptance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christ/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Futility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futility/) [Jesus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jesus/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Speak the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak-the-truth/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) ## Related quotes > [“We never replace Jesus in our children's lives. We don't even do the work of Jesus in our children's lives. We do the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-leyland-fields/we-never-replace-jesus-in-our-children-s-lives-we-don-t-even-do-the/) Leslie Leyland Fields > [I used to teach at a private school, and the parents thought I loved their children. I did not love their children! I liked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-flanagan/i-used-to-teach-at-a-private-school-and-the-parents-thought-i-loved/) [Caitlin Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-flanagan/) > [I love children. I've always loved children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgina-chapman/i-love-children-i-ve-always-loved-children/) [Georgina Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgina-chapman/) > [Because God loves us, he gives us practical teaching and boundaries to protect our hearts. The whole thing is one big expression of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/because-god-loves-us-he-gives-us-practical-teaching-and-boundaries-to/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) > [I want to love all the children of God - Christian, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist - everyone. I want to love gay Christians and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/i-want-to-love-all-the-children-of-god-christian-jew-moslem-hindu/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [Fidel Castro is loved down into the children. The Revolution won't die!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/fidel-castro-is-loved-down-into-the-children-the-revolution-won-t-die/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [I've always loved children. 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I loved to babysit my cousins, and nieces, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupita-nyong-o/i-have-always-loved-children-i-ve-been-fantasizing-about-motherhood/) [Lupita Nyong'o](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupita-nyong-o/) > [There's nothing better than having a baby. I've always loved children. 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They may forget what you said, but they will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [It is impossible to conceive how different things would have turned out if that birth had not happened whenever, wherever, however it didfor millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/it-is-impossible-to-conceive-how-different-things-would-have-turned/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [At least to look back over their own lives, as I have looked back over mine, for certain themes and patterns and signals that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/at-least-to-look-back-over-their-own-lives-as-i-have-looked-back-over/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [Snobs are people who look down on other people, but that does not justify our looking down on them. 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Or she'd cover her mirth with her hands and shake till you'd think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/how-adewen-stuffed-her-braid-in-her-mouth-at-that-or-she-d-cover-her/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/resurrection-means-that-the-worst-thing-is-never-the-last-thing/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) [Explore all 339 Frederick Buechner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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We are children because he is our father; and all of our efforts, fruitful and fruitless, to do good, to speak truth, to understand, are the efforts of children who, for all their precocity, are children still in that before we loved him, he loved us, as children, through Jesus Christ our lord.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick Buechner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-moment-when-we-know-that-it-is-as/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Children" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-moment-when-we-know-that-it-is-as/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/981/frederick-buechner-883_children_we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-mome_2837702.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us - not…” — Frederick Buechner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frederick Buechner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are children, perhaps, at the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-moment-when-we-know-that-it-is-as/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/we-are-children-perhaps-at-the-very-moment-when-we-know-that-it-is-as/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```