Homeward Bound

Home, the Base for Future Missionaries, September 17

I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.—2 Timothy 1:5. HB 286.1

The faithful performance of home duties has a reflex influence upon human beings. Our spiritual progress and perfection of Christian character in the home are carried into our missionary work abroad. Having on the whole armor of righteousness, we can fight as faithful soldiers of Christ. In the father’s house the evidence is to be given of a preparedness for the work to be done abundantly in the church. With earnest, humble hearts the members of the family are to seek to know that Christ is abiding in the heart. Then they can go forth with the whole armor on, equipped for Christ’s service. . . . HB 286.2

Self-denial practiced in the home fits us to work for others. The cultivation of our faculties to do what needs to be done to make the home what it should be—a symbol of the home in heaven—prepares us to work in a larger vineyard. The church needs all the cultivated spiritual force that can be obtained, especially to guard the youth, the younger members of the Lord’s family. The truth lived at home makes itself felt in disinterested labor abroad. Those who show a Christian character in the home will be bright and shining lights everywhere. The education received in the home in showing a tender regard for each other enables us to know how to reach hearts that need to be taught the principles of true religion. . . . HB 286.3

Home duties should be performed with a realization that if they are done in the right spirit, they will give an experience that will enable us to work in spiritual lines in the most permanent and thorough manner. Oh, what might not a living Christian do in missionary lines by performing faithfully the daily duties, cheerfully lifting the cross, not neglecting that class of work that is not agreeable to the natural feelings. Missionaries for the Master are best prepared for work abroad in the Christian household, where God is feared, where God is loved, where God is worshiped, where faithfulness has become second nature, where haphazard, careless inattention to home duties is not permitted, where quiet communion with God is looked upon as essential to the faithful performance of daily duties.—Manuscript 140, 1897. HB 286.4