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The Adventist Home
Adjusting Family Difficulties—It is a hard matter to adjust family
difficulties, even when husband and wife seek to make a fair and just
settlement in regard to their several duties, if they have failed to submit
the heart to God. How can husband and wife divide the interests of
their home life and still keep a loving, firm hold upon each other? They
should have a united interest in all that concerns their homemaking, and
the wife, if a Christian, will have her interest with her husband as his
companion; for the husband is to stand as the head of the household
Counsel to Discordant Families—Your spirit is wrong. When
you take a position, you do not weigh the matter well and consider
what must be the effect of your maintaining your views and in an
independent manner weaving them into your prayers and conversation,
when you know that your wife does not hold the same views that
you do. Instead of respecting the feelings of your wife and kindly
avoiding, as a gentleman would, those subjects upon which you know
you differ, you have been forward to dwell upon objectionable points,
and have manifested a persistency in expressing your views regardless
of any around you. You have felt that others had no right to see matters
differently from yourself. These fruits do not grow upon the Christian
tree
My brother, my sister, open the door of the heart to receive Jesus.
Invite him into the soul-temple. Help each other to overcome the
obstacles which enter the married life of all. You will have a fierce
conflict to overcome your adversary the devil, and if you expect God to
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help you in this battle, you must both unite in deciding to overcome, to
seal your lips against speaking any words of wrong, even if you have
to fall upon your knees and cry aloud, “Lord, rebuke the adversary of
my soul.
Christ in Each Heart Will Bring Unity—If the will of God is
fulfilled, the husband and wife will respect each other and cultivate
love and confidence. Anything that would mar the peace and unity of
the family should be firmly repressed, and kindness and love should be
cherished. He who manifests the spirit of tenderness, forbearance, and
love will find that the same spirit will be reflected upon him. Where
the Spirit of God reigns, there will be no talk of unsuitability in the
11
Manuscript 31, 1911
.
12
Testimonies For The Church 2, 418
.
13
Letter 105, 1893
.