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Gaining Efficiency
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avoided. Let the teacher so far unbend from his dignity as to be one
with the children in their exercises and amusements, without leaving
the impression that they are being watched. His very presence with
them will give a mold to their actions, and will cause his heart to
throb with new affection.
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The youth need sympathy, affection, and love, or they will be-
come discouraged. A spirit of “I care for nobody and nobody cares
for me” takes possession of them. They may profess to be followers
of Christ; but they have a tempting devil on their track, and they
are in danger of becoming disheartened and lukewarm, and of back-
sliding from God. Then some feel it a duty to blame them and to
treat them coldly as if they were a great deal worse than they really
are. Few, perhaps none, feel it their duty to make personal efforts to
reform them and to remove the unhappy impressions that have been
made upon them.
The teacher’s obligations are weighty and sacred, but no part of
his work is more important than that of looking after the youth with
tender, loving solicitude. Let the teacher once gain the confidence
of his students, and he can easily lead and control and train them.
The holy motives that underlie Christian living must be brought into
the life. The salvation of his pupils is the highest interest entrusted
to the God-fearing teacher. He is Christ’s co-worker, and his special
and determined effort should be to win them to Christ. God will
require this at his hands.
Every teacher should lead a life of piety, of purity, of painstaking
effort. If the heart is glowing with the love of God, there will be seen
in the life that pure affection which is essential; fervent prayers will
be offered and faithful warnings given. When these are neglected,
the souls under his care are endangered....
And yet, after all these efforts have been made, teachers may
find that some will develop unprincipled characters. They are lax
in morals, the result, in many cases, of vicious example and lack
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of parental discipline. Though teachers may do all they can, they
will fail to lead these youth to a life of purity and holiness. After
patient discipline, affectionate labor, and fervent prayer, they will
be disappointed by those from whom they have hoped for much. In
addition to this they will meet the reproaches of the parents because
they have not had power to counteract the influence of the wrong