To educate a child is both a joy and a challenge for the parent or Sunday School teacher. A joy to see the individual developing hidden talents, a joy to look beyond the human exterior and see the spiritual fact of man's Godlike nature. A challenge, too, to recognize the consistency and ever-presence of God's perfect image in spite of appearances to the contrary.
Mrs. Eddy makes this statement in Science and Health: "The entire education of children should be such as to form habits of obedience to the moral and spiritual law, with which the child can meet and master the belief in so-called physical laws, a belief which breeds disease."Science and Health, p. 62;
Such spiritual education and its farreaching effects can be seen in the lives of many Bible characters. Joseph, as a child, must have been educated to love good and to be obedient to God. He had an enduring sense of love for his family, and through his training and education he was able to bless not only himself and his immediate family but a whole nation. David was evidently brought up to have trust in God. He proved on many occasions how a knowledge of the divine presence and power was an effective help in time of need.
