18
Child Guidance
must themselves maintain purity of heart and life, if they desire their
children to be pure. As fathers and mothers, we should train and
discipline ourselves. Then as teachers in the home, we can train our
children, preparing them for the immortal inheritance
Make a Right Beginning—Your children are God’s property,
bought with a price. Be very particular, O fathers and mothers, to
treat them in a Christlike manner
The youth should be carefully and judiciously trained, for the
wrong habits formed in childhood and youth often cling to the entire
life-experience. May God help us to see the necessity of beginning
right
Importance of Training the First Child—The first child espe-
cially should be trained with great care, for he will educate the rest.
Children grow according to the influence of those who surround them.
If they are handled by those who are noisy and boisterous, they become
noisy and almost unbearable
The Plant—An Object Lesson in Child Training—The gradual
development of the plant from the seed is an object lesson in child
training. There is “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn
in the ear.”
Mark 4:28
. He who gave this parable created the tiny seed,
[28]
gave it its vital properties, and ordained the laws that govern its growth.
And the truths taught by the parable were made a reality in His own
life. He, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, became a babe
in Bethlehem, and for a time represented the helpless infant in its
mother’s care. In childhood He spoke and acted as a child, honoring
His parents, and carrying out their wishes in helpful ways. But from
the first dawning of intelligence He was constantly growing in grace
and in a knowledge of truth
[29]
[30]
6
The Review and Herald, September 8, 1904
.
7
Manuscript 126, 1897
.
8
The Gospel Herald, December 24, 1902
.
9
Manuscript 64, 1899
.
10
Education, 106, 107
.