Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

approve of wantonness and extravagance and display.
Duty of Parents in Teaching the Children
Teach your children that God has a claim upon all they possess, and that
nothing can ever cancel this claim; all they have is theirs only in trust, to
prove whether they will be obedient. Money is a needed treasure; let it not be
lavished upon those who do not need it. Someone needs your willing gifts. If
you have extravagant habits, cut them away from the life as soon as possible.
Unless you do this, you will be bankrupt for eternity.
The natural turn of youth in this age is to neglect and despise economy,
and to confound it with stinginess and narrowness. But economy is
consistent with the most broad and liberal views and feelings; there can be
no true generosity where it is not practiced. No one should think it beneath
him to study economy and the best means of taking care of the fragments.
In the study of figures the work should be made practical. Let every
youth and every child be taught, not merely to solve imaginary problems, but
to keep an accurate account of his own income and outgoes. Let him learn
the right use of money by using it. Whether supplied by their parents or by
their own earnings, let boys and girls learn to select and purchase their own
clothing, their books, and other necessities; and by keeping an account of
their expenses they will learn, as they could learn in no other way, the value
and the use of money.
There is such a thing as giving unwise help to our children. Those who
work their way through college appreciate their advantages more than those
who are provided with them at someone else's expense, for they know their
cost. We must not carry our children until they become helpless burdens.
Parents mistake their duty when they freely hand out money to any
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