Basic HTML Version
58
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
not to be compared with the beloved John or the apostle Paul. It is
when intellectual and spiritual power are combined that the highest
standard of manhood is attained. Those who do this, God will accept
as workers together with Him in the training of minds.
[67]
To know oneself is a great knowledge. The teacher who rightly
estimates himself will let God mold and discipline his mind. And
he will acknowledge the source of his power. ... Self-knowledge
leads to humility and to trust in God, but it does not take the place of
efforts for self-improvement. He who realizes his own deficiencies
will spare no pains to reach the highest possible standard of physical,
mental, and moral excellence. No one should have a part in the
training of youth who is satisfied with a lower standard.
An Effective Helper
The true teacher will try by precept and example to win souls to
Christ. He must receive the truth in the love of it and let it cleanse
his heart and mold his life. Every teacher should be under the full
control of the Holy Spirit. Then Christ can speak to the heart, and
His voice is the voice of love. And the love of God, received into
the heart, is an active power for good, quickening and enlarging
the mind and soul. With his own heart warm with divine love, the
teacher will lift up the Man of Calvary, not to give the students a
casual glimpse, but to fasten their attention until Jesus shall seem
to them the “chiefest among ten thousand,” and the One “altogether
lovely.”
Song of Solomon 5:10, 16
.
The Holy Spirit is an effective helper in restoring the image of
God in the human soul, but Its efficiency and power have not been
appreciated in our schools. It came into the schools of the prophets,
bringing even the thoughts into harmony with the will of God. There
was a living connection between heaven and these schools; and the
[68]
joy and thanksgiving of loving hearts found expression in songs of
praise in which angels joined.
The Holy Spirit comes to the world as Christ’s representative. It
not only speaks the truth, but It is the truth—the faithful and true
Witness. It is the great Searcher of hearts and is acquainted with the
characters of all.