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Counsels on Sabbath School Work
Parents and teachers should seek to impress the minds of the chil-
dren from their earliest years with the importance of salvation. They
should teach the children that God is their heavenly Father, that His
love is expressed to them in the gift of His only-begotten Son, and that
the Saviour of the world manifested His love toward them in coming
to our world to die that we might live. If these lessons are presented
in love and tenderness, they will leave a lasting impression upon the
minds and hearts of the youth. As images and objects are reflected
from the face of the mirror, when revealed by the sunlight, so these
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themes will be mirrored in the mind when illumined by the love of
Christ.—
Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, 100, 101
.
Simplicity and Sympathy
How important are the lessons that may be given to the children
and youth in unfolding the Scriptures in the simplicity of Christ. Let
the teacher leave all his hard, high-sounding words at home, and take
only the simplest words, that will be readily comprehended by the
minds of the young.
But in order to be a successful teacher, not only should the methods
of teaching be simple, but you must take sympathy and love with you
into the Sabbath school. The children will recognize this element and
be influenced by it. Men and women are only grown-up children. Do
we not respond to words and looks of real sympathy and love? Jesus,
the divine Teacher, assured His disciples of His love toward them. He
assumed human nature for no other purpose than to display to men
the mercy, the love, and the goodness of God in providing for the
salvation and happiness of His creatures. It was for this end that He
died. While uttering His tenderest words of sympathy, He rejoiced
in the consciousness that He intended to do “exceeding abundantly,”
above what they were able to ask or think. Daily He exhibited before
them, in works of blessing to man, how great was His tenderness
and love to the fallen race. His heart was a fountain of inexhaustible
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compassion, from which the longing heart could be supplied with the
water of life.
When Jesus spoke to the people, they were astonished at His
doctrine; for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the
scribes. The scribes had labored to establish their theories, and they had