Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

wicked. A teacher of this stamp will do great harm to those who are rapidly
developing character. If teachers are not submissive to God, if they have no
love for the children over whom they preside, or if they show partiality for
those who please their fancy, and manifest indifference to those who are less
attractive, or to those who are restless and nervous, they should not be
employed; for the result of their work will be a loss of souls for Christ.
Teachers are needed, especially for the children, who are calm and kind,
manifesting forbearance and love for the very ones who most need it.
Unless the teacher realizes the need of prayer and humbles his heart
before God, he will lose the very essence of education.
The importance of the teacher's physical qualifications can hardly be
overestimated; for the more perfect his health, the more perfect will be his
labor. The mind cannot be clear to think and strong to act when the physical
powers are suffering the results of feebleness or disease. The heart is
impressed through the mind; but if, because of physical inability, the mind
loses its vigor, the channel to the higher feelings and motives is to that extent
obstructed, and the teacher is less able to discriminate between right and
wrong. When suffering the results of ill health, it is not an easy matter to be
patient and cheerful, or to act with integrity and justice.
The Bible in Christian Education
As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any
other book, or all other books combined. The greatness of its themes, the
dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of its imagery, quicken and
uplift the thoughts as nothing else can. No other study can impart such
mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation.
The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite cannot but
expand and strengthen.
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