The Gospel Day; Or, the Light of ChristianityOrr, Charles Ebert
Religion
The Gospel Day; Or, the Light of Christianity
Orr, Charles Ebert
Christianity
When our children are brought into a Christian experience the victory is
only partly won; life lies before them with its temptations. Many are the
allurements to turn those young feet into worldly paths. We have witnessed
the bright, happy conversion of many children. We have seen their
countenances beaming with the light and joy of Christian love and heard
their voices ring with spiritual praise, only to soon yield to the
influence of the world and lose that sincere devotion to God. This is not
the inevitable course, thank God, but it is the course of many. To teach
our children the fear of God and enable them to retain in their hearts a
deep reverence and devotion to him has been a subject of much prayer with
us. We find the Christian life is a warfare. There are temptations to be
resisted, there are watchings and prayings, there must be a constant
looking upward to God for his aid and direction.
One trouble with many parents has been that as soon as their children were
converted they seemed to think the battle was over and the victory was
won, when really the battle was only begun. The first thing necessary in
keeping our budding “olive plants” in deep spirituality is to keep very
spiritual ourselves. Now whatever means are necessary to promote a growth
of spirituality in our hearts, the same means are necessary to develop and
deepen the spiritual life of our children. A habitual effort to cultivate
a deeper sense of the divine presence is necessary and one of the most
beautiful employments of the sanctified heart. Those reverential feelings
toward God must daily become stronger. Those inmost affections of the soul
must reach out with greater yearnings and deeper longings toward the Holy
One. A benevolent regard in our hearts for our fellow men must become
stronger and more true. O beloved, if you would have your child to grow up
into a beautiful Christian character you must teach him to suppress every
selfish feeling, to banish every idle, careless thought, and to resist all
temptations to envy or impatience. The purest of meditations must be
entertained. We and they must be strictly disciplined by the sacred
Scriptures, “Watch and pray.” Spiritual prayer unfolds the life into the
beautiful life of God as the bud unfolds into the blooming rose.
A Christian Home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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