ously from the heart
because it is compelled by lovable traits and appealing qualities in the
one to be loved!

The concept of God which the child needs.--The concept of God which
the child first needs, therefore, is God as loving Father, expecting
obedience and trust from his children; God as inviting Friend; God as
friendly Protector; God ever near at hand; God who can understand and
sympathize with children and enter into their joys and sorrows; God as
Creator, in the sunshine and the flowers; but above all, God filling the
heart with love and gladness. The concept which the child needs of Jesus
is of his surpassing goodness, his unselfish courage, and his loving
service. All religious teaching which will lead to such concepts as
these is grounding the child in knowledge that is rich and fruitful, for
it is making God and Christ _real_ to him. All teaching which leads to
false concepts is an obstacle in the way of spiritual development.

THE CHILD'S CONCEPT OF RELIGION

Gradually throughout his training the child should be forming a clear
concept of religion and the part it is to play in the life. This cannot
come through any formal definition, nor through any set of precepts. It
must be a growth, stimulated by instruction, guided by wise counsel,
given depth of meaning through the lives of strong men and women who
express the Christian ideal in their daily living.

Matthew Arnold tells us that religion is "morality lit up by emotion."
We turn to God for our inspiration, for the quickening of our motives,
for fellowship, communion and comfort; but it is when we face the duties
and relationships of the day's work and its play that we prove how close
we have been to God and what we have received from him. As there can be
no religion without God, neither can there be religion without morality;
that is, without righteous living.

Connecting religion with life.--One of the chief aims in teaching the
child religion should therefore be to ground him in the understanding
that _religion is life_. Probably no greater defect exists in our
religion to-day than our constant tendency to divorce it from life.
There are many persons who undertake to divide their lives up into
compartments, one for business, one for the relations of the home, one
for social matters, one for recreation and amusement, and _one for
religion_. They make the mistake of assuming that they can keep these
sections of the life separate and distinct fro