he soul while it
was developing. It was easier to say peremptorily, "Do this," with the
inevitable result, that when compulsion was removed character gave way
because it was weak.

But some one is saying, "That is a very questionable doctrine; 'Let the
child do as he pleases, if he don't want to do the right, don't force
him.'"

Such a deduction from the argument entirely misses the point. The child
must do the right, but, in a nutshell--which is the stronger
constraint--outer or inner? Which makes character surer, the voice
without, saying, 'You must,' or the voice within which says it? No
external power could have made Paul's record of service, or Brainerd's
or Paton's. All the force of the Russian government was powerless to
obtain that which each Japanese soldier poured out upon his country's
altar in the fight for supremacy in Manchuria. These deeds are the
soul's response to the most irresistible power in the world--a consuming
passion. It was such a passion, intense beyond earthly fathom, that led
the Savior through Gethsemane to Calvary.

Because this is so, the Heavenly Father's effort to secure right action
from His children is not evident in external compulsion. Through His
favor and fellowship, the joy of His approval, the peace that passeth
understanding, the "Well done," the eternal reward, He endeavors to
arouse love for Himself and what He desires, in order that His will may
be chosen.

According to this Divine pattern human nurture labors. At the very
first, the parent must make choice for the child, but earlier than is
usually appreciated, definite training may be begun. The loving smile of
the mother and her known wish, her approval or disapproval, her
recognition and encouragement, the knowledge that, "Whatsoever a man
soweth that must he also reap," gained through bearing the penalty or
enjoying the reward of each choice, the right course made attractive in
the story of some one who chose it, or, most magnetic of all, in the
life of the one who is nurturing, all these will begin to arouse the
inner constraint that compels, and with glad acquiescence the soul will
say, "Necessity is laid upon me."

When the life shall learn that the most blessed joy that inheres in
right actions is not human approval but God's favor, and for His sake,
with face steadfastly set, the right is followed, even though shorn of
all external attractiveness, the highest development possible for a
soul has been realized