178
Child Guidance
Parents are in constant danger of indulging natural affections at
the expense of obedience to God’s law. Many parents, to please their
children, allow what God forbids
Parents Responsible for What Children Might Have Been—If
as teachers in the home the father and mother allow children to take the
lines of control into their own hands and to become wayward, they are
held responsible for what their children might otherwise have been
Those who follow their own inclination, in blind affection for their
children, indulging them in the gratification of their selfish desires, and
do not bring to bear the authority of God to rebuke sin and correct evil,
make it manifest that they are honoring their wicked children more
than they honor God. They are more anxious to shield their reputation
than to glorify God, more desirous to please their children than to
please the Lord....
Those who have too little courage to reprove wrong, or who
through indolence or lack of interest make no earnest effort to pu-
rify the family or the church of God, are held accountable for the evil
that may result from their neglect of duty. We are just as responsible
[236]
for evils that we might have checked in others by exercise of parental
or pastoral authority, as if the acts had been our own
No Place for Partiality—It is very natural for parents to be par-
tial to their own children. Especially if these parents feel that they
themselves possess superior ability, they will regard their children
as superior to other children. Hence much that would be severely
censured in others is passed over in their own children as smart and
witty. While this partiality is natural, it is unjust and unchristian. A
great wrong is done our children when we permit their faults to go
uncorrected
Make No Compromise With Evil—It should be made plain that
the government of God knows no compromise with evil. Neither in the
home nor in the school should disobedience be tolerated. No parent
or teacher who has at heart the well-being of those under his care will
compromise with the stubborn self-will that defies authority or resorts
to subterfuge or evasion in order to escape obedience. It is not love
8
The Review and Herald, January 29, 1901
.
9
The Review and Herald, September 15, 1904
.
10
Patriarchs and Prophets, 578
.
11
The Signs of the Times, November 24, 1881
.