Proper Discipline and Education of our Children
245
Every son and daughter should be called to account if absent from
home at night. Parents should know what company their children are
in and at whose house they spend their evenings
Human philosophy has not discovered more than God knows or
devised a wiser plan of dealing with children than that given by our
Lord. Who can better understand all the needs of children than their
Creator? Who can feel a deeper interest in their welfare than He who
bought them with His own blood? If the word of God were carefully
studied and faithfully obeyed, there would be less soul anguish over
the perverse conduct of wicked children.
Children have claims which their parents should acknowledge and
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respect. They have a right to such an education and training as will
make them useful, respected, and beloved members of society here,
and give them a moral fitness for the society of the pure and holy
hereafter. The young should be taught that both their present and their
future well-being depend to a great degree on the habits they form in
childhood and youth
Men and women professing to revere the Bible and follow its
teachings fail in many respects to perform its requirements. In the
training of children they follow their own perverse natures rather than
the revealed will of God. This neglect of duty involves the loss of
thousands of souls. The Bible lays down rules for the correct discipline
of children. Were these requirements of God heeded by parents, we
should today see a different class of youth coming upon the stage of
action. But parents who profess to be Bible readers and Bible followers
are going directly contrary to its teachings. We hear the cry of sorrow
and anguish from fathers and mothers who bewail the conduct of
their children, little realizing that they are bringing this sorrow and
anguish upon themselves, and ruining their children, by their mistaken
affection. They do not realize their God-given responsibilities to train
their children to right habits from their babyhood
Children who are Christians will prefer the love and approbation
of their God-fearing parents above every earthly blessing. They will
love and honor their parents. It should be one of the principal studies
of their lives, how to make their parents happy. In this rebellious age,
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Testimonies for the Church 4:651
283
The Adventist Home, 306
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Testimonies for the Church 4:313