Saturday, July 01, 2006

The machinery of moral existence

A perfect knowledge of man is in the prayer, Lead us not into temptation.
But temptation will come to try our strength; and once yielded to, the power to resist grows weaker and weaker. Yield once, and a portion of virtue has gone. Resist boldly, and the first decision will give strength for life, repeated, it will become a habit. It is in the outworks of the habits formed in early life that the real strength of the defense must lie, for it has been wisely ordained that the machinery of moral existence should be carried on principally through the medium of the habits, so as to save the wear and tear of the great principles within. It is good habits, which insinuate themselves into the thousand inconsiderable act of life, that really constitute by far the greater part of mans moral conduct. Samuel Smiles.

This piece is so practical, and so true. So many of us struggle, seemingly forever, because we were truant in building good habits when young. Oh the difficulty of building them when older, your life and mine attest to it. But for the power and influence of Christ's intercession, we would have no hope. What some of us battle with and pray for years, with less than perfect results, others who built the good habit when young, simply cannot understand our problem.

The importance of training our children can never be overstated.



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