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Christian Discipline
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you think they richly deserve, and you will cut them off from hope
and spoil your influence. Will this pay? No, a hundred times, no.
Bind the one who needs your help close to a loving, sympathizing
heart, and you will save a soul from death and hide a multitude of
sins.
Expelling Students
Great care should be exercised in the matter of expelling stu-
dents. There are times when this must be done. It is a painful task to
separate from the school the one who incites others to disobedience
and disloyalty, but for the sake of the other students this is sometimes
necessary. God saw that if Satan were not expelled from heaven the
angelic host would be in constant danger; and when God-fearing
teachers see that to retain a student is to expose others to evil influ-
ences, they should separate him from the school. But it should be a
very grave fault that calls for this discipline.
When, in consequence of transgression, Adam and Eve were cut
off from all hope, when justice demanded the death of the sinner,
Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice. “Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation
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for our sins.” “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity
of us all.”
1 John 4:10
;
Isaiah 53:6
.
In dealing with their students, teachers are to show the love of
Christ. Without this love they will be harsh and dictatorial, driving
souls away from the fold. They must be minutemen, ever on guard
over self and improving every opportunity to do good to those in
their care. Let them remember that every one of our schools is to
be an asylum for the sorely tried youth, where their follies will be
wisely and patiently dealt with.
Teachers and students are to come close together in Christian
fellowship. The youth will make many mistakes, and the teacher is
never to forget to be compassionate and courteous. Never is he to
seek to show his superiority. The greatest of teachers are those who
are most patient, most kind. By their simplicity and their willingness
to learn they encourage their students to climb higher and still higher.