Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the
spiritual nature. Man, created for fellowship with God, can only in such
fellowship find his real life and development. Created to find in God his
highest joy, he can find in nothing else that which can quiet the cravings of
the heart, can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul. He who with sincere
and teachable spirit studies God's word, seeking to comprehend its truths,
will be brought in touch with its Author; and, except by his own choice, there
is no limit to the possibilities of his development.
Let the more important passages of Scripture connected with the lesson
be committed to memory, not as a task, but as a privilege. Though at first the
memory be defective, it will gain strength by exercise, so that after a time
you will delight thus to treasure up the words of truth. And the habit will
prove a most valuable aid to spiritual growth.
Dangers in Sending Children to School Too Young
As the dwellers in Eden learned from nature's pages, as Moses discerned
God's handwriting on the Arabian plains and mountains, and the child Jesus
on the hillsides of Nazareth, so the children of today may learn of Him. The
unseen is illustrated by the seen.
So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be placed where
this wonderful lesson book shall be open before him.
Do not send your little ones away to school too early. The mother should
be careful how she trusts the molding of the infant mind to other hands.
Parents ought to be the best teachers of their children until they have reached
eight or ten years of age. Their schoolroom should be the open air, amid the
flowers and birds, and their textbook the treasure of nature. As fast as their
minds can comprehend it, the parents should open before them God's great
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