“Home should be a place where cheerfulness, courtesy, and love abide; and where these graces dwell, there will abide happiness and peace. Troubles may invade, but these are the lot of humanity. Let patience, gratitude, and love keep sunshine in the heart, though the day may be ever so cloudy. In such homes angels of God abide.”
Ministry of Healing, 393
Let praise and thanksgiving be expressed in song. When tempted, instead of giving utterance to our feelings, let us by faith lift up a song of thanksgiving to God.
We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love,—
For Jesus who died and is now gone above.We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of light,
Who has shown us our Saviour, and scattered our night.All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain,
Who has borne all our sins, and has cleansed every stain.All glory and praise to the God of all grace,
Who has bought us, and sought us, and guided our ways.Revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.Chorus: Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Hallelujah! amen; Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Revive us again.
Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement. As we thus open the heart to the sunlight of the Saviour’s presence, we shall have health and His blessing.
Ministry of Healing, 254
“Fathers and mothers who make God first in their households, who teach their children that in the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, glorify God before angels and before men…Christ is not a stranger in their homes; His name is a household name, revered and glorified. Angels delight in a home where God reigns supreme and the children are taught to reverence religion, the Bible, and their Creator. Such families can claim the promise, “Them that honour Me, I will honour.”
“In the arrangements for the education of the chosen people it is made manifest that a life centered in God is a life of completeness.”
Education, 41
“The fact that he [Christ] was without fault in his home life makes him a pattern for all children and youth. He was no less the Son of God in his quiet life at home, in faithfully serving his parents at Nazareth, than while healing the sick, and in raising the dead.
“Important lessons can be here drawn for children and youth, that they cannot be employed in a more noble work than in performing their duty to their parents. They are no less engaged in the work of God, acknowledged and recorded by the heavenly angels as such, in faithful, filial obedience, than in a more public and more responsible position of later days. Youth can serve God as faithfully in the submission of their wills to their parents, and in the filial discharge of the every-day duties of life, as in the house of God.”
Youth’s Instructor, March 1, 1873
“The sower soweth the word.” Here is presented the great principle which should underlie all educational work. “The seed is the word of God.” But in too many schools of our day God’s word is set aside. Other subjects occupy the mind. The study of infidel authors holds a large place in the educational system. Skeptical sentiments are interwoven in the matter placed in school books. Scientific research becomes misleading, because its discoveries are misinterpreted and perverted. The word of God is compared with the supposed teachings of science, and is made to appear uncertain and untrustworthy. Thus the seeds of doubt are planted in the minds of the youth, and in time of temptation they spring up. When faith in God’s word is lost, the soul has no guide, no safeguard. The youth are drawn into paths which lead away from God and from everlasting life.
Christ’s Object Lessons, 41
“Never underrate the importance of little things. Little things supply the actual discipline of life. It is by them that the soul is trained that it may grow into the likeness of Christ, or bear the likeness of evil. God helps us to cultivate habits of thought, word, look, and action that will testify to all about us that we have been with Jesus and learned of Him!”
The Youth’s Instructor, March 9, 1893.
The Adventist Home Educator 