e the child is yours it
will escape temptation; for all must be tempted, if they would be
strong. Teach your children, according to their ability to comprehend,
all that they should know to be able to shun evil. Do not think that
because your child has inherited some moral weakness, you are helpless
to teach him to overcome it. You can explain to him his danger and tell
him what yielding to the temptations that come to him because of this
weakness will lead to. Point out the effect of this sin upon the one
from whom it was inherited. Tell the child that the only chance to
overcome this inherited tendency will be by constantly avoiding those
things that will lead to temptation. You may find the task difficult and
you may sometimes feel disheartened, but you must put that wayward child
of yours right, if possible, or God will hold you accountable. Perhaps
the inherited sin may lie at your own door. If it does, you will
understand better how to help him from under its power.

In the public school, on the street, and in his various associations,
your child will be exposed to the evil of hearing impure language from
vile lips; and if he be not warned, who can blame him for listening?
Your home teaching must overbalance all that he hears outside.

Should some question concerning the mysteries of his own body or of his
own origin be aroused in his mind by impure stories or by any other
cause, you must at once arise to meet the difficulty before harm is
done that will be very difficult to overcome. But some mother will say:
"I do not know what answer to make my child when he asks questions of
such a delicate nature. Would it not be best to leave his mind free from
these ideas until he is older?" Doubtless it would, if the child would
be contented to wait; but when he has learned enough to ask the
question, he is able to tell whether you speak the truth when you say
you do not know, and he will not be satisfied by the flimsy pretest,
"Oh, run away and don't bother me; I'm too busy."

Above all else, keep the confidence of your child, so that he will come
to you with every trouble of life. Confidence of children in their
parents is a gift from God. All children have it at first. See the
tottering baby cling to its mother for support; watch it run to her when
it is frightened. Can it not have the same confidence when it is older?
I answer from experience that it can and should. Truth inspires trust
in your child. If you do not t