however much they may lack the serious and practical nature they later
take on. Probably no child reaches his teens without having many times
secretly determined that he would do this or become that, which he has
admired in some hero of his own choosing from actual acquaintance or
from books or stories. There is no normal child but who has his own
notions of greatness and importance, of success and fame, and who wishes
and longs for certain things ahead upon which he has set his heart, and
which he purposes to attain. The things that he thus values are his
ideals, goals to be reached. Ideals are, therefore, guides to action
and effort, something to be striven after and sacrificed for. They are
the things most worth while, for which we can afford to forego other
things of lesser value. It was the force of a great ideal which led Paul
to say, "This one thing I do"; and to the attainment of that ideal he
gave all his purpose and effort.

To form true ideals requires a trained sense of values; one must develop
a power of spiritual perspective, and be able to see things in their
true proportions. He must know what things rightly come first if he is
to "put first things first;" He must have some training in recognizing
the value of "pearls" if he is to see that it is a good exchange to
"sell all that he has" in order to "buy the pearl of great price."

This all suggests that one of the responsibilities resting upon us as
teachers of religion is to guide the child in the forming of his ideals.
We must help him form his notion of what is worthy and admirable in
character. We must see that he develops high standards of truth,
honesty, obedience, and the other moral virtues which lie at the
foundation of all vital religion. We must make certain that his ideals
of success and achievement include a large measure of service to his
fellows. We must ground him in right personal ideals and standards of