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Fundamentals of Christian Education
instructor to know how to deal with the erring for their present and
eternal good. Impulse, impatience, pride, selfishness, and self-esteem,
if cherished, will do a great amount of evil which may thrust the soul
upon Satan’s battle ground without wisdom to navigate his bark, but
he will be in danger of being tossed about at the sport of Satan’s
temptations until shipwrecked. Every teacher has his own peculiar
traits of character to watch lest Satan should use him as his agent
to destroy souls, by his own unconsecrated traits of character. The
only safety for teachers is to learn daily in the school of Christ, His
meekness, His lowliness of heart, then self will be hid in Christ, and
he will meekly wear the yoke of Christ, and consider that he is dealing
with His heritage. I must state to you, that I have been shown that
the best methods have not always been practiced in dealing with the
errors and mistakes of students, and the result has been that souls have
been imperiled and some lost. Evil tempers in the teachers, unwise
movements, self-dignity have done a bad work. There is no form of
vice, worldliness, or drunkenness, that will do a more baleful work
upon the character, embittering the soul, and setting in train evils
that overbear good, than human passions not under the control of the
Spirit of God. Anger, getting touched, stirred up, will never pay. How
many prodigals are kept out of the kingdom of God by the unlovely
character of those who claim to be Christians. Jealousy, envy, pride,
and uncharitable feelings, self-righteousness, easily provoked, thinking
evil, harshness, cold, unsympathetic, these are the attributes of Satan.
Teachers will meet with these things in the students’ characters. It is a
terrible thing to have these things to deal with; but in seeking to cast
out these evils, the
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worker has in many instances developed similar attributes which have
marred the soul of the one with whom he is dealing.
There is really no place in heaven for these dispositions. A man
with such a character will only make heaven miserable, because he
himself is miserable. “Except ye be born again,” said Christ, “ye
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” To enter heaven, a man must
have Christ formed within, the hope of glory, and take heaven with
him. The Lord Jesus alone can fashion and change the character. For
want of patience, kindness, forbearance, unselfishness, and love, the
revealings of the traits flash forth involuntarily when off guard, and
unchristian words, unchristlikeness of character burst forth sometimes