Caterpillars and Butterflies

If you’ve been reading the comic story about Stripe, the caterpillar, you probably already guessed the ending. If Stripe was going to get wings, he had to form a chrysalis and become a butterfly, right? Pretty easy. That’s because you know that caterpillars turn into butterflies. But why couldn’t the caterpillars in the story figure that out? I’m sure you have some good answers. For one thing, caterpillars are so different than butterflies that it seems very strange that one can change into the other.

So which do you like better? I think most of you would answer: butterflies! I agree. But the amazing thing about butterflies is that they always start out as a caterpillar first. And the wonderful thing about caterpillars is that they have the possibility of becoming a beautiful winged butterfly.

Do you know something? It’s the same way with us. What are some ways that people act like caterpillars? Yes, we are selfish. We destroy things. We cause problems. And, like the caterpillars in the story, we like to put others down so that we can be the strongest, the most popular, the one on top. The big question is: Is this how we are supposed to live?

I thought you would know the answer. But how can we be different? Will “being nice to others” and “trying to help out more” really change us? Is there a way for us to stop “being a caterpillar-person” and become a “butterfly-person”? How?

These are big questions, because the answer isn’t really what you say, but what you believe inside. You can say, “Jesus can change our hearts so that we are good and beautiful, like butterflies.” That would be one kind of answer. But now think about the story. Would it really help if all the caterpillars told each other that they could become butterflies, but none of them ever did it? No. Remember how Fuzzy first met the caterpillar making a chrysalis? It persuaded her to “get wings,” too. And Stripe began to hope that he could change, when he saw how Fuzzy had become a butterfly.

So how do we really change to become a “butterfly-person”? Is it just by wishing or praying a lot? No. The biggest, hardest part of all is giving up being a caterpillar-person. We don’t like to think that something is wrong with us, but the Bible says that “all have sinned.”* (Romans 3:23) It is the sin in our hearts that keeps us from living right. God made a way for us to stop living selfishly and be able to live a new “flying life.” It is much higher and happier than the old sinful “crawling life.” Just like a butterfly thinks differently than a caterpillar, our desires inside are changed.

God wants to give us wings too. Do you have those “butterfly-wings”? It will show up in how you live every day. If you are thinking of your own way, you are crawling. If you are doing wrong and feeling bad about it, God has a better life for you. Just like a butterfly can fly quickly away from trouble, butterfly-people learn to quickly go to Jesus when they have trouble. They know they are safe with Him, and they want to always please Him. It’s a happy life to live!