Words: , Hymns for Little Children, 1848.
Music: Newland (Armstrong), (1840-1928). He wrote this tune at the request of Cecil Alexander, who was staying at Newland at the time; it appeared in Hymns Ancient Modern in 1889. Alternate tune:
Do no sinful action,
Speak no angry word;
Ye belong to Jesus,
Children of the Lord.
Christ is kind and gentle,
Christ is pure and true;
And His little children
Must be holy, too.
There’s a wicked spirit
Watching round you still,
And he tries to tempt you
To all harm and ill.
But ye must not hear him,
Though ’tis hard for you
To resist the evil,
And the good to do.
For ye promised truly,
In your infant days,
To renounce him wholly,
And forsake his ways.
Ye are newborn Christians,
Ye must learn to fight
With the bad within you,
And to do the right.
Christ is your own Master,
He is good and true,
And His little children
Must be holy, too.