Teaching Children (No. 3)

By Roy Loney

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     Teach your children the real purpose and value of life. Life is God's most precious gift. Its real pleasures are found when it is lived for the glory of God. Teach your children that life was given to be fashioned into something of beauty and value. A piece of canvas and a dozen tubes of paint sell for a small sum, but if the paint is spread on the canvas with skill, it produces that which is both beautiful and valuable. So it is with life used unselfishly in the service of God and others. The teaching of Jesus, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. 16: 24) can be made the foundation of many fine lessons.

     When children are conscious of the fact they have obligations to a higher power than their parents, they will receive a mental and mortal uplift in the formation of a righteous character. If they recognize God's interest in their daily lives, they will be concerned as to how they live. Teach your children how Jesus gave His life for the world, and that they should give their lives

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in service to Him. This is life's highest attainment, for only a life "hid with Christ in God" can receive God's richest blessings.

     Teach your children to be useful. Home tasks should be shared by all. The mother who makes a slave of herself to save the children from unpleasant tasks robs herself and them of much that is precious. Many parents think it is too much trouble to teach the children to help with the home work. This is a mistake. The parents can do the work more quickly and efficiently than the children, but the children need to learn the dignity and joy of service. Girls who help with household chores, learn the art of housekeeping, and enjoy a companionship with their mother they could not otherwise experience. Nor is it effeminate for a boy to help his mother in the kitchen. Lightening a mother's load is an evidence of nobility of character, and an honor and credit to a son. Useful work does more to develop real character than all the pampering in the world. Even honey bees cannot tolerate a drone, and man who is made in the image of God must be led into ways of usefulness.

     Children who work at outside tasks after shool hours are enriching themselves far beyond the value of the money they earn. They are better equipped to meet the responsibilities of life. It dishonors children to let them grow up in idleness. Children need periods of rest and recreation, but if life is all play and no work, they will be bored with life before it really begins. Children who earn their own money learn its value and have the satisfaction of knowing they have contributed to the progress of the world through useful labor. Some of the greatest men in America fitted themselves for greater service, by performing such humble jobs as delivering newspapers.

     Man was not created to be a butterfly but a useful member of the human race. Paul recognized the danger of idleness and instructed the church not to support younger widows who still had health and strength to provide their own needs (1 Tim. 5:11-13). The same principle applies to our children. The children kept at home doing useful work are not the ones who join gangs of teen age delinquents and wreck their lives on the reefs of sin. The most miserable persons I know are those who have always been pampered by their parents so they have no conception of the pleasure and dignity of serving others. As a tree gets its sustenance from the earth, but bears fruit for others to enjoy, so no one can share in the world's happiness unless he shares in its work and progress.