Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-01-22
INSTRUCTION IN THE HOME.
Parents Have the Best Opportunity
For the Riaht Kind of Work.

kiO
(Rev. w. A. Hafner)
The importance Of home instruction
in the development Of any people can
not be over estimated AS our homes
are so will our people be. If we would
have a pious people, we must have
piety In our homes. God, knowing
this, has taken every necessary pre-
caution to purify and to keep pure the
home.
Perhaps the chief means used by
God in the development Of his people
is religious instruction. He began by
teaching men, and then enjoined those
taught to teach others. When God
determined to make known his law to
men, He first gave the law to Moses,
and imposed upon Moses the duty OF
declaring that law to Israel. So Mo-
ses, having been taught Of God, called
Israel together and said unto them:
Hear, o Israel, the Lord thy God Is
one Lord.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thine heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might:
And these words which I COM
mand thee this day shall be in thine
heart:
And thou shalt teach them dill
gently unto thy children"
It is the duty of all who have been
taught to pass the truth along to 9TH
ers, but God, with special emphasis,
has made it the duty Of parents to
give religious instruction to their chill
dren. These words shall be in thine
heart; and thou shalt teach them dill
gently to thy children"
Now, If no other reason could be
given why parents should perform this
know that God has enjoined 1t. This
with US should be the end Of cavil.
But apart from this all sufficient rea-
son many other good reasons can be
assigned why this duty can be laid
upon parents. I shall now mention a
few Of these.
/. Because children, as rule, are
more closely associated with their pa
rents than they are with others. They
shelter under the same roof, they eat
at the same table, they sit around the
same fireside, and, being thus closely
associated parents have splendid op-
portunities to teach their children the
truths Of God.
2. Because children naturally trust
their parents. Unless parents in some
way have betrayed the confidence OF
their children, their word Is sufficient.
The majority Of children demand no
greater proof for the truthfulness OF
any statement than thus saith father
or mother. This confidence that chill
dren naturally place in their parents
gives the parents an open door to
the hearts of their children. The pa
rents are thus enabled to reach and to
teach their children as perhaps no one
else can do.
8. Because parents are naturally
interested in the welfare of their chill
dren.
Parents, worthy of the name, love
their children better than others love
them. This love begets in parents
lively interest in the welfare Of their
children. God has shown his wisdom
and goodness in committing the spir-
itual training Of children to those who
love them best, and who are most in
terested in their welfare. Other rea-
sons might be stated why God has i'm
posed this duty upon parents, but for
lack of space, shall have to let those
already stated suffice.
This God imposed duty Is one that
you cannot delegate. 1t Is a common
practice in many Of our homes today
to leave the religious instruction OF
their children to the church and Sab
bath school. This is a serious mis-
take. Your children are your trusts,
and unless God has incapacitated you
in some way for the discharge Of the
duties imposed, you must answer for
the training Of those intrusted to you.
The church and the Sabbath school
may prove valuable helps to you IN
the discharge Of your duty to your
children, but they cannot relieve you
of your responsibility to those chill
dren.
Should you neglect this all-import-
ant duty, you not only cheat your chill
dren out of their rights, but you rob
your own soul of the blessings prom
ised to the faithful. Yea, further, your
unfaithfulness will affect church and
state. If righteousness Is not taught
in the homes then church and state,
which are aggregates of these homes,
will also be lacking in righteousness.
One reason why there is so much law
lessness in our land today Is because
obedience to law is not taught ana
enforced in our homes. Perform this
home duty faithfully, and lawlessness
will gradually disappear.
Notice, please, how parents are to
prepare for giving instructions: "These
words shall be in thine heart"
Here is the starting point. We must
ourselves De Taught VI COu DSlOic VIC
are prepared to teach diligently our
children. We must endeavor to render
obedience to Gods commands our
selves, before we can impress upon
our children the Importance of obedi-
ence. l fear here is just where many
parents fail. Not having these
words"-God's commands and stat
utes-in their own hearts they cannot
diligently" teach them to their chill
dren.
But some may say children are so
slow to learn that we consider trying
to teach them a hopeless task" Yes,
they are slow to learn the truth. The
same truths must be told them over
and over again, the same faults must
be corrected day after day. 1t seems
an endless task. But wonder If our
Heavenly Father doesn't some times
think that we are slow to learn the
lessons he would teach us. He gives
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