Basic HTML Version
Safeguarding the Young
105
Unity in Government
Unitedly and prayerfully the father and mother should bear the
grave responsibility of guiding their children aright. It is chiefly
upon the mother that the work of child training devolves, but the
father should not become so absorbed in business life or in the study
of books that he cannot take time to study the natures and necessities
of his children. He should help in devising ways by which they may
[128]
be kept busy in useful labor agreeable to their varying dispositions.
The father of boys should come into close contact with his sons,
giving them the benefit of his larger experience and talking with
them in such simplicity and tenderness that he binds them to his
heart. He should let them see that he has their best interests, their
happiness, in view all the time. As the priest of the household, he
is accountable to God for the influence that he exerts over every
member of the family.
The mother should feel her need of the Holy Spirit’s guidance,
that she herself may have a genuine experience in submission to
the way and will of God. Then, through the grace of Christ, she
can be a wise, gentle, loving teacher. To do her work as it should
be done requires talent and skill and patient, thoughtful care. It
calls for self-distrust and earnest prayer. Let every mother strive by
persevering effort to fulfill her obligations. Let her bring her little
ones to Jesus in the arms of faith, telling Him her great need, and
asking for wisdom and grace. Earnestly, patiently, courageously, she
should seek to improve her own abilities, that she may use aright the
highest powers of the mind in the training of her children.
As united rulers of the home kingdom, let father and mother show
kindness and courtesy to each other. Never should their deportment
militate against the precepts they seek to inculcate. They must
maintain purity of heart and life if they would have their children
pure. They must train and discipline self if they would have their
[129]
children subject to discipline. They must set before their children an
example worthy of imitation. Should they be remiss in this respect,
what will they answer if the children entrusted to them stand before
the bar of heaven as witnesses to their neglect? How terrible will be
their realization of loss and failure as they face the Judge of all the
earth!