Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

operation of the Spirit of God.
Parents, set apart a little time each day for the study of the Sabbath
school lesson with your children. Give up the social visit if need be, rather
than sacrifice the hour devoted to the precious lessons of sacred history.
Parents, as well as children, will receive benefit from this study. 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 may be
defective, it will gain strength by exercise, so that after a time you will
delight thus to treasure up the precious words of truth. And the habit will
prove a most valuable aid to religious growth....
Observe system in the study of the Scriptures in your families. Neglect
anything of a temporal nature; dispense with all unnecessary sewing and
with needless provision for the table, but be sure that the soul is fed with the
bread of life. It is impossible to estimate the good results of one hour or even
half an hour each day devoted in a cheerful, social manner to the word of
God. Make the Bible its own expositor, bringing together all that is said
concerning a given subject at different times and under varied circumstances.
Do not break up your home class for callers or visitors. If they come in
during the exercise, invite them to take part in it. Let it be seen that you
consider it more important to obtain a knowledge of God's word than to
secure the gains or pleasures of the world. In some [Sabbath] schools, I am
sorry to say, the custom prevails of reading the lesson from the lesson sheet.
This should not be. It need not be, if the time that is often needlessly and
even sinfully employed, were given to the study of the Scriptures. There is
no reason why Sabbath school lessons should be less perfectly learned by
teachers or pupils than are the lessons of the day school. They should be
better learned, as they treat of subjects infinitely more important. A neglect
here is displeasing to God.
Those who teach in Sabbath school must have their hearts warmed and
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