So also, if we would capture the interest of childhood for the church
school and bind its loyalty to the church, the subject matter we offer
and the lessons we teach in the house of God must contain the glow and
throb of life, and not be dry and barren. If we would awaken religious
feeling and link the emotions to God, we must not teach empty lessons,
meaningless dates, and musty facts that fail to reach the heart because
they have no inner meaning.

Small use to set high aims and then miss them for want of material
suited for their attainment. Small use to catalogue the fine qualities
of heart and mind we would train in our children and then fail of our
aim because we choose wrong tools with which to work. Not all facts
found in the Bible are of equal worth to children, nor are all religious
truths of equal value. Nothing should be taught _just because it is
true_, nor even because it is found in the Bible. The final question is
whether this lesson material is the best we can choose for the child
himself; whether it will give him the knowledge he can use, train the
attitudes he requires, and lead to the acts and conduct that should rule
his life.

The material must fit the child.--The subject matter we teach _must
also be fitted to the child_. It must be within his grasp and
understanding. We do not feed strong meat to babes. What may be the
grown person's meat may be to the child poison. It does no good to load
the mind with facts it cannot comprehend. There is no virtue in truths,
however significant and profound, if they are beyond the reach of the
child's experience. Matter which is not assimilated to the understanding
is soon forgotten; or if retained, but weighs upon the intellect and
dulls its edge for further learning.