Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students

The Character of Teachers

The well-being, the happiness, the religious life, of the families with which the youth are connected, the prosperity and piety of the church of which they are members, are largely dependent upon the religious education that they receive in our schools. Because our schools have been established for so high and holy a purpose, the teachers should be men and women whose lives are purified by the grace of Christ, who are cultured in mind and refined in manners. And they should have a vivid sense of the perils of this time, and the work that must be accomplished to prepare a people to stand in the day of God. They should ever pursue a course that will command the respect of their students. The youth have a right to expect that a Christian teacher will reach a high standard, and they will pass severe judgment upon him if he does not. CT 497.2

The teachers in our schools will need to manifest Christlike love, forbearance, and wisdom. Students will come to school who have no definite purpose, no fixed principles, no realization of the claim that God has upon them. These are to be led to awake to their responsibilities. They must be taught to appreciate their opportunities, and to become examples of industry, sobriety, and helpfulness. Under the influence of wise teachers, the indolent may be led to arouse, the thoughtless to become serious. Through painstaking effort, the most unpromising student may be so trained and disciplined that he will go forth from the school with high motives and noble principles, prepared to be a successful light bearer in the darkness of the world. CT 498.1

Patient, conscientious teachers are needed to arouse hope and aspiration in the youth, to help them to realize the possibilities lying before them. Teachers are needed who will train their students to do service for the Master; who will carry them forward from one point to another in intellectual and spiritual attainment. Teachers should strive to realize the greatness of their work. They need enlarged views; for their work, in its importance, ranks with that of the Christian minister. With persevering faith they are to hold to the Infinite One, saying as did Jacob, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” Genesis 32:26. CT 498.2