Editor’s note: To support personal and family gospel learning, the Church News is publishing articles on messages from April 2025 general conference. It is recommended to listen to or read the full address in addition to reviewing these Church resources.
About this talk
- “As a Little Child”
- President Jeffrey R. Holland | Acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
- Saturday morning session of April 2025 general conference.
- Theme: Christlike attributes can be developed by following the Savior’s invitation to “become as little children.”
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of President Holland’s message here.
Outline
- After seeing an argument among His apostles in the New Testament, Jesus called a little child unto Him. He taught, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
- There are some infantile inclinations not to be encouraged, like a 5-year-old girl who bit her 3-year-old brother after he bit her.
- “What is it that we are to see in the virtues of life’s junior varsity?” Perhaps it’s their purity, innocence, inborn humility and what it could bring to those who retain it.
- Vanity and pride are ever present in these days. By contrast, a child prays with purity and humility, as if heaven is in the room, and it’s not superficial.
- “How different life could be if the world esteemed Jesus above the level of a profane swearing streak from time to time.” Children love so easily, forgive so readily and laugh so delightfully that even the coldest, hardest heart can melt.
- Easton Darrin Jolley, ordained a deacon in January 2025, longed to pass the sacrament for as long as he could remember. Despite having Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, he felt he needed to do this alone and unaided.
- In a sacrament meeting, Easton climbed the three sizable steps from the meetinghouse floor to the elevated stand to pass the sacred emblems to the bishop, his father. Easton demonstrated qualities like faith, loyalty, purity, trust, honor and love.
- Babies, children and youth with Christlike qualities are images of the kingdom of God flourishing on earth in all its strength and beauty.
- Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw, President Russell M. Nelson is God’s Prophet, and the Book of Mormon is “the most rewarding book I have ever read. ... I bear witness that priesthood and prayer are restoring my life — Christ’s priesthood and your prayers.”
Reflection questions
When have you learned a Christlike attribute from a child?
How can you be more “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love” (Mosiah 3:19) this week?
What changes can we make to let go of the “vain things of the world” (Alma 31:27)?
How can you cultivate a more sincere and pure approach to prayer?
What qualities of children can you emulate in your efforts to follow the Savior?
Speaker quotes
- “What is it that we are to see in the virtues of life’s junior varsity? What was it that brought Christ Himself to tears in the most tender scene in the entire Book of Mormon? What was Jesus teaching when He called down heavenly fire and protective angels to surround those children, commanding the adults to “behold [their] little ones” (3 Nephi 17:23)? We don’t know what prompted all of that, but I have to think it had something to do with their purity and innocence, their inborn humility and what it could bring to our lives if we retain it.”
- “Is there anything sweeter, more pure or more humble than a child at prayer? It is as if heaven is in the room. God and Christ are so real, but for others later on, the experience can become more superficial.”
- “Children really do love Him, and that love can carry over into their other relationships in the playground of life. As a rule, even in their youngest years, children love so easily, they forgive so readily, they laugh so delightfully that even the coldest, hardest heart can melt.”
Reference scriptures
- “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
- “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
- “Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world.”
Invitations and promises
- “How different life could be if the world esteemed Jesus above the level of a profane swearing streak from time to time.”
- “Faith, loyalty, purity, trust, honor and, in the end, love for that father he so wished to please. These and a dozen other qualities make us also say, ‘Whosoever ... shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 18:4).”
- “Sisters and brothers and friends, at the top of the list of the most beautiful images I know are babies and children and youth as conscientious and priceless as those we have referred to today. I testify that they are images of the kingdom of God flourishing on earth in all of its strength and beauty.”
Stories
- In the New Testament, Jesus witnessed an argument among His apostles (Mark 9:33). In response, the Savior called a little child unto Him and taught: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4).
- Easton Darrin Jolley, ordained a deacon in January 2025, longed to pass the sacrament for as long as he could remember. But because of his Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, he feared he would fail, fall, be teased or embarrass himself and his family. The Sunday after his ordination, Easton felt he needed to pass the sacrament unaided. He climbed the three sizable steps from the meetinghouse floor to the elevated stand to pass the sacred emblems to the bishop, his father, who was in tears. Easton demonstrated qualities like faith, loyalty, purity, trust, honor and love.
Additional resources
- Related image: “Christ and the Book of Mormon Children” by Del Parson
- Related video: “Jesus Teaches That We Must Become as Little Children”
- Related hymn: “Children’s Songbook,” No. 78, “I’m Trying To Be Like Jesus”
Recent conference talks on childlike humility
- Elder Christopher H. Kim: “Harden Not Your Heart” (April 2025)
- Elder Ulisses Soares: “Aligning Our Will With His” (October 2024)
- Elder Joseph W. Sitati: “Patterns of Discipleship” (October 2022)
Who is President Holland?
- President Jeffrey R. Holland was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on June 23, 1994, and was set apart as acting president of the quorum on Nov. 15, 2023. President Holland was called as a General Authority Seventy in April 1989. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University, where he was also a professor of English and ancient scripture.
