Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

children to right habits from their babyhood.
Children who are Christians will prefer the love and approbation of their
God-fearing parents above every earthly blessing. They will love and honor
their parents. It should be one of the principal studies of their lives, how to
make their parents happy. In this rebellious age, children who have not
received right instruction and discipline have but little sense of their
obligations to their parents. It is often the case that the more their parents do
for them, the more ungrateful they are, and the less they respect them.
To a great extent, parents hold in their own hands the future happiness of
their children. Upon them rests the important work of forming the character
of these children. The instructions given in childhood will follow them all
through life. Parents sow the seed which will spring up and bear fruit either
for good or evil. They can fit their sons and daughters for happiness or for
misery.
Parents Must Agree
Children have sensitive, loving natures. They are easily pleased and
easily made unhappy. By gentle discipline in loving words and acts, mothers
may bind their children to their hearts. To manifest severity and to be
exacting with children are great mistakes. Uniform firmness and
unimpassioned control are necessary to the discipline of every family. Say
what you mean calmly, move with consideration, and carry out what you say
without deviation.
Parents should not forget their childhood years, how much they yearned
for sympathy and love, and how unhappy they felt when censured and
fretfully chided. They should be young again in their feelings and bring their
minds down to understand the wants of their children. Yet with firmness,
mixed with love, they should require obedience from their children. The
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