they are bad, they chain us to evil, and
impel us onward and downward to ruin. Hence from his habits we can easily
estimate the merit or demerit of a person, know all his weak points and
idiosyncrasies, and what will be the probable termination of his existence.

The same may be said of the habits of a family. They enter into its very
constitution, rule and direct all its activities and interests. They cling
to each member with more than magic power, and become interwoven with his
very being; and by them we may easily ascertain the moral and spiritual
strength of that family; we can tell whether the parents are faithful to
their mission, and whether its members will be likely to pass over from the
home of their childhood to the church of Christ. Who has not felt this
power of habit? Who has not wept over some habits which haunt him like an
evil spirit; and rejoiced over others as a safeguard from sin and a
propellor to good? Is it not, therefore, a matter of momentous interest to
the Christian home, that it establish habits of the right kind and quality?

It should never be forgotten by Christian parents, and they cannot be too
careful to impress it upon their children, that habit engenders habit,--has
the power of reproducing itself, and begetting habits of its own kind,
increasing according to the laws of growth, as it is thus reproduced. A
habit in one member of a family may produce a like habit in all the other
members. The habits of the husband may be engendered in the wife, and those
of the parents, in their children. If so, then are we not responsible for
our habits? And shall any other kind save Christian habits, be found in the
Christian home? These we cannot give in detail. It is plain that those
habits only are Christian, which receive the sanction of God's Word and
Spirit, and find a response in the Christian faith and conscience. Here,
for instance, is a habit being formed,--habit of thought: is it pure? Here
is a habit of conversation: is it holy? Here is a habit of action: is it
godly? And if not, it does not belong to the Christian home.

See, then, ye members of the Christian home, to the habits you are forming.
Form the habit of "doing all thing's decently and in order." Let the work
and duties of each day be done according to method. This is essential to
success in your pursuits and aims. Without this, your Christian life may be
blustering and stormy, but you will accomplish little, and will be as
un