Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students - Ellen G. White

Making Home Attractive
While many parents err on the side of
indulgence, others go to the opposite extreme, and
rule their children with a rod of iron. They seem to
forget that they themselves were once children.
They are dignified, cold, unsympathetic. Childish
mirth and waywardness, the restless activity of the
young life, find no excuse in their eyes. Trifling
misdemeanors are treated as grave sins. Such
discipline is not Christlike. Children thus trained
fear their parents, but do not love them; they do not
confide in them their childish experiences. Some of
the most valuable qualities of mind and heart are
chilled to death as a tender plant before the wintry
blast.
While we are not to indulge blind affection,
neither are we to manifest undue severity. Children
cannot be brought to the Lord by force. They can
be led, but not driven. “My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me,” Christ
declares. John 10:27. He does not say, My sheep
hear My voice and are forced into the path of
158