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Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work
So frail, so ignorant, so liable to misconception is human nature,
that each should be careful in the estimate he places upon another. We
little know the bearing of our acts upon the experience of others. What
we do or say may seem to us of little moment, when, could our eyes
be opened, we should see that upon it depended the most important
results for good or for evil.—
The Ministry of Healing, 483
.
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Teachers Should Strive to Improve
Because there is so much cheapness of character, so much of
the counterfeit all around the youth, there is the more need that the
teacher’s words, attitude, and deportment should represent the elevated
and the true. Children are quick to detect affectation or any other
weakness or defect. The teacher can gain the respect of his pupils in
no other way than by revealing in his own character the principles
which he seeks to teach them....
But the teacher’s usefulness depends not so much upon the actual
amount of his acquirements as upon the standard at which he aims.
The true teacher is not content with dull thoughts, an indolent mind,
or a loose memory. He constantly seeks higher attainments and better
methods. His life is one of continual growth. In the work of such a
teacher there is a freshness, a quickening power, that awakens and
inspires his pupils....
Teachers are needed who are quick to discern and improve every
opportunity for doing good; those who with enthusiasm combine true
dignity; who are able to control, and “apt to teach;” who can inspire
thought, arouse energy, and impart courage and life.
A teacher’s advantages may have been limited, so that he may
not possess as high literary qualifications as might be desirable; yet
if he has true insight into human nature; if he has a genuine love
for his work, and appreciation of its magnitude, and a determination
to improve; if he is willing to labor earnestly and perseveringly, he
will comprehend the needs of his pupils, and, by his sympathetic,
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progressive spirit, will inspire them to follow as he seeks to lead them
onward and upward.
The children and youth under the teacher’s care differ widely in
disposition, habits, and training. Some have no definite purpose or