Relation of Parents and Children

Notes

1. It is a lamentable fact that many of our youth are drifting into the world. A great question confronts this denomination in the work of our young people. Many of the problems in this work must be solved by the parents in the home. No college, academy, church school, or young people's society can ever do the work of the parents. These can all be a help, but there must be some special cooperation on the part of parents before the work which the Lord says should be done for the young can be accomplished. If parents fail to maintain government in their homes; if they fail to surround their children with the right influence, to diligently instruct them in the precepts of the word, to pray with and for them, all that others may do will be largely undone in the home. It is time that parents took this burden to heart as never before. We can take children with us to the new earth, and no sacrifice should be considered too great to accomplish this blessed result.

2. "Children who are allowed to come up to manhood or womanhood with the will undisciplined and the passions uncontrolled, will generally in after life pursue a course which God condemns."—Testimonies for the Church, No. 31, page 34.

"The neglect of parents to properly discipline their children has been a fruitful source of evil in many families. The youth have not been restrained as they should have been. Parents have neglected to follow the directions of the Word of God in this matter, and the children have taken the reins of government into their own hands. The consequence has been that they have generally succeeded in ruling their parents, instead of being under their authority."—Idem, Vol. 4, pages 192, 193.

"False ideas and a foolish, misdirected affection have nurtured traits which have made the children unlovely and unhappy, have embittered the lives of the parents, and have extended their baleful influence from generation to generation. Any child that is permitted to have his own way will dishonor God and bring his father and mother to shame."—Idem, No. 32, page 81.

3. "Eli did not manage his household according to God's rules for family government. He followed his own judgment. The fond father overlooked the faults and sins of his sons in their childhood, flattering himself that after a time they would outgrow their evil tendencies. Many are now making a similar mistake. They think they know a better way of training their children than that which God has given in His Word. They foster wrong tendencies in them, urging as an excuse, 'They are too young to be punished. Wait till they become older, and can be reasoned with.' Thus wrong habits are left to strengthen until they become second nature. The children grow up without restraint, with traits of character that are a lifelong curse to them, and are liable to be reproduced in others.

"There is no greater curse upon households than to allow the youth to have their own way. When parents regard every wish of their children, and indulge them in what they know is not for their good, the children soon lose all respect for their parents, all regard for the authority of God and man, and are led captive at the will of Satan. The influence of an ill-regulated family is widespread, and disastrous to all society. It accumulates in a tide of evil that affects families, communities, and governments."—Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 544, 545.

4. "God condemns the negligence that dallies with sin and crime, and the insensibility that is slow to detect its baleful presence in the families of professed Christians. He holds parents accountable, in a great degree, for the faults and follies of their offspring. God visited with His curse, not only the sons of Eli, but Eli himself, and this fearful example should be a warning to the parents of this time.

"As I looked upon the perilous situation of our youth, and was shown how indifferent the parents are to their welfare, my heart was sick and faint; angels were troubled, and wept with grief. The youth are passing into the world, and into the hands of Satan. They are becoming less susceptible to the sweet influences of the grace of God, bolder and more defiant, and manifest increasing disregard of eternal interests. I saw Satan planting his banner in the households of those who profess to be God's chosen ones; but those who are walking in the light should be able to discern the difference between the black banner of the adversary and the blood-stained standard of Christ."—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, page 200.

5. "What a reward was Hannah's! and what encouragement to faithfulness is her example! There are opportunities of inestimable worth, interests infinitely precious, committed to every mother. The humble round of duties which women have come to regard as a wearisome task, should be looked upon as a grand and noble work. It is the mother's privilege to bless the world by her influence, and in doing this she will bring joy to her own heart. She may make straight paths for the feet of her children, through sunshine and shadow, to the glorious heights above. But it is only when she seeks, in her own life, to follow the teachings of Christ, that the mother can hope to form the character of her children after the divine pattern."—Patriarchs and Prophets, page 538.