FRUITS OF PIETY
Nothing will conduce more effectually to a mother's success
in the work of training up her children to be consistent and
useful Christians, than right ideas of true fruits of piety.
We must know what fruits the true spirit of piety will
produce—for our own sakes and also for our children. We must
know what points we are ourselves to aim at attaining in
cultivating the Christian character, and also in what
direction we are to lead our children. I propose in this
chapter to consider what the true fruits of piety, as
developed in a Christian family, properly are.
1. A DEVOTIONAL SPIRIT. A spirit of habitual and
sincere devotion is so directly implied in the very idea of
piety, that it seems scarcely proper to enumerate it as one
of the fruits of piety. And yet the importance of direct and
constant efforts to cultivate such a spirit, is often
overlooked. By a devotional spirit is meant a spirit of
sincere and fervent prayer, and a disposition to associate
the thoughts of God and his providence with all the
occurrences and events of life. Cherish now this spirit in
yourselves and inculcate it upon your children. Teach them,
for example, that when their father, or you yourself,
assemble them for morning or evening prayer, it is not a
mere form, or a duty that they are to witness merely, but to
take part in. Teach them, on the other hand, that they have
themselves an active and important duty to perform at these
seasons.
"When your father reads the passage of scripture," you can
say to them, "you must not be inattentive, but must fix your
thoughts upon what he reads, and to apply the instructions
to your own case. And as he addresses God in prayer, you
should silently repeat after him all the words of his
petition, trying to make them your own. And thus you should
make the season of family prayer, a season in which you not
merely listen to your father's prayer, but engage in
devotion yourselves."
It will not be sufficient to inculcate such a lesson as this
upon your children by precept alone; you must lead them to
such duties by your example. They must see the evidence of a
sincere spirit of devotion in you. To this end you must be
diligent in secret prayer, confessing your own sins, and
imploring God's assistance to enable you to resist the
peculiar temptations to which you are exposed. Social prayer
is a great source of spiritual improvement and enjoyment.
But it can never take the place of secret prayer. There are
sins and temptations to which we all are exposed, which we
cannot confess in the presence of anyone but God alone. In
our secret prayers, therefore, we should be particular,
mentioning by name our secret sins, and our constitutional
imperfections.
Teach your children these truths. "At the close of the day,"
you may say to them "when you retire to your chamber for the
repose of the night, and before you close your eyes in
sleep, retrace, with your thoughts, the scenes of the day.
Recall to mind all the duties that you have faithfully
performed, and also all the duties that you have neglected,
and the temptations to which you have yielded. Among your
sins of omission, you see, perhaps, that you did not improve
your time in school as well as you ought to have done. Your
mother found it necessary to censure you for leaving your
clothes in your room in disorder. You also remember that you
felt irritated at some little annoyance from your sister,
and though you had sufficient self-restraint to refrain from
speaking angrily to her, your feelings were for some time so
ruffled as to make you quite unhappy. Reflect upon these
faults until you feel how sinful they were in God's sight.
You must then confess all these and other similar sins to
God, and ask his forgiveness for them."
It is thus that you must watch over your own spirit, and
teach your children to watch over theirs day after day, and
year after year, that you and they may grow in grace. It is
only by this spirit of particular and secret prayer, that
any one can make any rapid or sure attainments in the divine
life. Nothing can be substituted for faithful prayer. The
moment that you begin to neglect it, your heart begins to
grow cold, and you become the victim of spiritual desertion.
But if you are faithful in devotion, your path through life
will be "as the shining light that shines more and more unto
the perfect day." You will soon, in this way, gain such a
conquest over all sinful passions—that serenity and peace
will be the habitual state of your mind.
* * *
THE CHRISTIAN MOTHER
by John Abbott, 1833, Worcester, Mass.
Published by the American Tract Society
Source: GraceGems.org
____________________
