Mental Models #2: Learning to Walk

Running has been a staple in my life for the past decade. I love the scenery, the challenge, and the freedom to go where my legs can take me. Running also gives me the chance to decompress and reflect.

It was during one of those runs that I received a mental model that changed the way I saw God — and it brought me to tears.

A Father and a Child

On this particular run, I began reflecting on what a blessing it is simply to walk and run. I had just finished recovering from ACL surgery, and at the same time, I was watching my son learn to walk.

I thought of his shaky steps and constant falls. I thought of how I would pick him up, encourage him, and smile as he tried again. Two steps, fall. Three steps, fall. Yet he was always eager to try again, and I was always eager to see him succeed.

That image of my son learning to walk became my next mental model.

God as Father

During the run, I realized: God is the Father in this scenario, I am the child, and walking is acquiring virtue.

Too often I had pictured God as a judge, ready to condemn me for every failure. I told myself that’s what I deserved. Even if I knew in my head that God was merciful, in my heart I couldn’t imagine Him as anything but a stern judge.

Then this truth struck me: God has always been the loving Father who picks me up when I fall.

That realization brought me to tears.

I saw that from the beginning He has been watching me try to do the right thing. He has seen my stumbles into sin, or even choose it outright. But He never scolded me, condemned me to death, or left me on the ground. Instead, He has been eager to lift me up and help me become the man He created me to be.

The Child’s Role

But this model has another side — the child.

My son stumbles and struggles, but he is eager to stand up and try again. This is all God asks of us. He wants us to be like children: obedient, dependent, and desiring to grow. We do not need to be perfect at birth. He will make us holy. We just need to keep trying.

If the child refuses to learn, or collapses in stubbornness, then no matter how willing the Father is, he will not advance. Too often we stare at our past failures and convince ourselves we will never walk. Some of us don’t even try, fearing how difficult it will be.

The Reward

But the struggle is worth it. Virtue leads to life — full, abundant life. As Jesus said in John 10:10:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

This Week’s Challenge

• When you fail this week, remember this mental model.
• Picture yourself as the child, and God as the Father who lifts you up.
• Then, take another step forward in virtue.

Even though we stumble, God loves us and is eager to see us succeed.