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Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
example and unwise training received in the home. But in spite of
these discouragements the teacher must work on, trusting in God to
work with him, standing at his post manfully and laboring in faith.
Others will be saved to God, and their influence will be exerted in
saving still others....
Setting a High Standard
What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. While religion
should be the prevailing element in every school, it will not lead
to a cheapening of the literary attainments. It will make all true
Christians feel their need of thorough knowledge, that they may
make the best use of the faculties bestowed upon them. While
growing in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, they
will seek constantly to put to the stretch their powers of mind, that
they may become intelligent Christians.
The Lord is dishonored by low ideas or designs on our part. He
who does not perceive the binding claims of God’s law, who neglects
to keep its every requirement, violates the whole law. He who is
content to meet only partially the standard of righteousness, and
who does not triumph over every spiritual foe, will not fulfill the
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purpose of Christ. He cheapens the whole plan of his religious life
and weakens his character. Under the force of temptation his defects
of character gain the supremacy, and evil triumphs.
To meet the highest standard possible, we need to be persever-
ing and determined. In many cases established habits and ideas
must be overcome before we can make advancement in the religious
life.... The essential work is to conform the tastes, the appetites, the
passions, the motives, the desires, to the great standard of righteous-
ness. The work must begin in the heart. Unless the heart is wholly
conformed to Christ’s will, some master passion, or some habit or
defect, will become a power to destroy.
Piety and religious experience lie at the very foundation of true
education. God wants the teachers in our schools to be efficient. If
they advance in spiritual understanding, they will see how important
it is that they should not be deficient in a knowledge of the sciences.
While teachers need piety, they also need a thorough knowledge of
the sciences....