Page 403 - Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students (1913)

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Education a Fitting for Service
399
It is not necessary that all know several languages; but it is
necessary that all have an experience in the things of God. I do not
say that there should be no study of the languages. The languages
should be studied. Before long there will be a positive necessity for
many to leave their homes and go to work among people of other
tongues; and those who have some knowledge of these languages
will be able to communicate with those who do not know the truth.
The Character of Teachers
The well-being, the happiness, the religious life, of the families
with which the youth are connected, the prosperity and piety of the
church of which they are members, are largely dependent upon the
religious education that they receive in our schools. Because our
schools have been established for so high and holy a purpose, the
teachers should be men and women whose lives are purified by the
grace of Christ, who are cultured in mind and refined in manners.
And they should have a vivid sense of the perils of this time, and the
work that must be accomplished to prepare a people to stand in the
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day of God. They should ever pursue a course that will command
the respect of their students. The youth have a right to expect that
a Christian teacher will reach a high standard, and they will pass
severe judgment upon him if he does not.
The teachers in our schools will need to manifest Christlike love,
forbearance, and wisdom. Students will come to school who have no
definite purpose, no fixed principles, no realization of the claim that
God has upon them. These are to be led to awake to their responsi-
bilities. They must be taught to appreciate their opportunities, and
to become examples of industry, sobriety, and helpfulness. Under
the influence of wise teachers, the indolent may be led to arouse,
the thoughtless to become serious. Through painstaking effort, the
most unpromising student may be so trained and disciplined that he
will go forth from the school with high motives and noble principles,
prepared to be a successful light bearer in the darkness of the world.
Patient, conscientious teachers are needed to arouse hope and
aspiration in the youth, to help them to realize the possibilities lying
before them. Teachers are needed who will train their students to
do service for the Master; who will carry them forward from one