54
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene
a nickel,” “It is only a dime,” seems very little; but multiply these littles
by the days of the year, and as the years go by, the array of figures will
seem almost incredible.
The Lord has been pleased to present before me the evils which
result from spendthrift habits, that I might admonish parents to teach
their children strict economy. Teach them that money spent for that
which they do not need, is perverted from its proper use. He that is
unfaithful in that which is least, would be unfaithful in much. If men
are unfaithful with earthly goods, they cannot be intrusted with the
eternal riches. Set a guard over the appetite; teach your children by
example as well as by precept to use a simple diet. Teach them to
be industrious, not merely busy, but engaged in useful labor. Seek to
arouse the moral sensibilities. Teach them that God has claims upon
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them, even from the early years of their childhood. Tell them that there
are moral corruptions to be met on every hand, that they need to come
to Jesus and give themselves to him, body and spirit, and that in him
they will find strength to resist every temptation. Keep before their
minds that they were not created merely to please themselves, but to
be the Lord’s agent for noble purposes. Teach them, when temptations
urge into paths of selfish indulgence, when Satan is seeking to shut
out God from their sight, to look to Jesus, pleading, “Save, Lord, that
I be not overcome.” Angels will gather about them in answer to their
prayer, and lead them into safe paths.
Christ prayed for his disciples, not that they should be taken out of
the world, but that they should be kept from evil,—that they might be
kept from yielding to the temptations they would meet on every hand.
This is a prayer that should be offered up by every father and mother.
But should they thus plead with God in behalf of their children, and
then leave them to do as they please? Should they pamper the appetite
until it gets the mastery, and then expect to restrain the children?—No;
temperance and self-control should be taught from the very cradle up.
Upon the mother must rest largely the responsibility of this work. The
tenderest earthly tie is that between the mother and her child. The
child is more readily impressed by the life and example of the mother
than by that of the father, because of this stronger and more tender
bond of union. Yet the mother’s responsibility is a heavy one, and
should have the constant aid of the father.