The Children For Christ by Andrew Murray

given that he might be able to exercise aright that royal prerogative of
the liberty he has from God to will himself, and so to fashion his own
being and destiny for eternity.
And it is to the parent that the solemn task is entrusted of teaching the
child how to use this will aright. This delicate instrument, on which in
after-life the weal or woe, not only of the child, but of others, is to
depend, is put into the hands of the parents to keep, to direct, to
strengthen, and to train the child all unconsciously to hold and to
exercise it to the glory of the God who gave it. One would imagine that
parents would shrink from the task with trembling, or, if they heard
how the wisdom was to be obtained to execute it aright, would count no
sacrifice too great to secure it. To those who seek the wisdom from God
in faith, and in His fear seek to understand and fulfill their task, success
is possible, is even promised.
The problem is one of great delicacy, to combine the greatest degree and
the fullest exercise of personal liberty with perfect obedience. God’s
Word has more than once taught in that obedience is the child’s first
virtue — that in yielding it, his will is to be exercised. He is to obey, not
because he understands or approves, but because the parent
commands. In this he is to become the master of his own will, that he
voluntarily submits it to a higher authority. Obedience from this
principle will thus secure a double good: while guiding the will into
right habits, it strengthens the command the child has over it. When
first this has been attained, a safe foundation has been laid for the
further exercise of the child’s free will in the deliberate choice of what
appears to him best. It is this that the parent must regard as his highest
and most blessed work. `Before the child knows to refuse the evil and
choose the good,’ in this first stage of childhood, simple obedience is the
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