due to unkind treatment. It is as natural for a child to trust his parents and to trust in God as it is to play. The trustful look in the children's faces as they came to Jesus gave him sincere pleasure. Such implicit loyalty he seeks from all his followers, for such is the spirit of his kingdom. This World-that-is-to-be will be very long in coming unless those who believe in it are loyal to the ideals of Jesus, with the unshakable loyalty of a child. Childishness must be outgrown. Thus Jesus praised childlikeness to the skies. But Paul condemns childishness, in these familiar words in 1 Corinthians 13, ... but when I became a man I outgrew childish ways." Yet there is no real conflict here between these two great teachers, for childishness is something very different from the childlikeness Jesus praised. Every one admires in a high-school youth the attractive childlike qualities we have been discussing; but no one likes to see an "overgrown kid." When nature says it is time to be men, we like to see childishness give way to real manliness. It is not manly to be selfish. The self-centered life is childish. It is not manly to act impulsively, but to be self-controlled. Children are ruled by instinct like the animals; but full-grown men and women are supposed to be ruled by reason. By the age of sixteen reason should be strong. To be easily led is quite childish; youth should have more independence and initiative. Childhood is carefree and irresponsible, but a childish youth disappoints us when we find we cannot depend upon him. The problem in many a home is how to develop manliness in a rollicking ne'er-do-well of an overgrown, chronic boy who persists in playing Jimmie long after the clock has struck for Jim. Perhaps he has too much love for horseplay and still retains the uncouthness, laziness, and general lack of purpose too common in belated boyhood. These marks of childishness should be outgrown as soon as possible. As fast as we can get rid of them we are gaining in true manliness. What is it to be manly or womanly?—Many a girl in middle teens is carrying heavy burdens at home and many a boy of sixteen is his mother's main support as Jesus was. To be trusted with responsibility is a great test of our characters and of our maturity. It develops early a fine type of manliness. "A creed is a rod and a crown is of night; But this is of God, to be man with thy might; -Hyde. Christian manliness consists in self-control, a trained and disciplined will, a right heart with Jesus Christ enthroned within, with the impulses and appetites in leash, a sound mind ruled by level common sense, and an undercurrent of determined purpose to play the man in life and to put one's life in for all it is worth. It is a glad day in every home when they see such glorious manliness appear in the place of the irrepressible, irresponsible boy whose childishness had grown to be a burden. Sometimes athletics help a boy to become dependable and to "count one at his post." This has to be developed in a football player who becomes a reliable end or a fullback. When a runner rushes by all the rest of the team and the full-back knows that he alone stands between that man and a touch-down, while five thousand people watch to see if he can be depended upon to stop him,— such a crisis helps to make a boy reliable and manly. When the support of a widowed mother suddenly falls upon a boy whose older brother is drafted for the army, that boy quickly discovers his manhood. It is a great day when a boy, without losing anything of the joy and zest of life, finds out for himself that "Life is real, life is earnest." On that day he has outgrown his childishness. But if he is wise, he will hold fast to his childlikeness forever, for "of such is the kingdom of heaven." POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What is the difference between childishness and childlikeness? What did Paul say about the former? What did Jesus say about the latter? 2. Why do we dislike to see childishness in full-grown boys and girls? How does it show itself? What do you do to get rid of it? 3. How can boys and girls become dependable? Show how athletics help in this. What makes a boy really manly? How early should a girl become womanly? 4. What did Jesus say to his comrades who were growing old too fast? (Matthew 18:3.) What was there about these grown folks he disliked? How are good people sometimes spoiled as they grow older? How did Peter have to change before he could be very useful to Jesus? 5. What does it mean to "keep plastic"? Why is this necessary if we are to keep on learning? How can it be done? What do you think about that bookkeeper who lost his job? Have you known other cases like this? How long should we be able to live and still be teachable, that is, really young? FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK 6. Study childlikeness in the best young children you know and then decide what qualities in children Jesus most admired. Do we really need to outgrow any of these qualities as we grow older? How do you plan to retain them? 7. Think of some of the most modest people you know who have real humility. Are they ignorant or educated? Try to explain why some of the greatest scholars have still the humble spirit of a child. 8. Compare a suspicious person you know with another who is naturally trustful. Why do you like the latter better? Why is the trustfulness of a child so important in God's kingdom? CHAPTER IX HOW PRAYER MAKES SUPERMEN It is true of all of us that future success in life depends on our growth in character. It is important for us to study, early in this course, Jesus' ideals of personal growth. Growth in character depends largely upon our home, our friends, our church, our social life and work, and the ideals of the neighborhood in which we live. It depends upon the personal habits we acquire, and especially the habit of prayer. Strong personalities have been developed under the pressure of responsibility, but it is hard to find a person who is morally great who had no prayer life at the source of his greatness. Many a life that has grown from very modest and meager beginnings to real greatness can be explained only by the discovery that the sources of power were reached by daily prayer. There is a great life secret here which we must investigate. Jesus' ideals about prayer. In those days the popular religion consisted mainly in fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, with occasional burnt-offerings and other sacrifices in the Temple. That kind of religion, the religion of the priests, did not seem to appeal to Jesus, it had so little to do with character. There is no record of his ever offering a sacrifice in the Temple. His main objection to the popular customs of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer as expressions of religion was the hypocritical way many people did these religious acts. Jesus had higher ideals. To go through these religious motions for the sake of applause seemed shocking to him. It took all the sincerity |