What the parents are, that, to a great extent, the
children will be. The physical conditions of the parents,
their dispositions and appetites, their mental and moral
tendencies, are, to a greater or less degree, reproduced in their
children.
The nobler the aims, the higher the mental and spiritual
endowments, and the better developed the physical powers of
the parents, the better will be the life equipment they give
their children. In cultivating that which is best in themselves,
parents are exerting an influence to mold society and to uplift
future generations.
Fathers and mothers need to understand their responsibility.
The world is full of snares for the feet of the young. Multitudes
are attracted by a life of selfish and sensual pleasure.
They cannot discern the hidden dangers or the fearful ending
of the path that seems to them the way of happiness. Through
the indulgence of appetite and passion, their energies are
wasted, and millions are ruined for this world and for the
world to come. Parents should remember that their children
must encounter these temptations. Even before the birth of
the child, the preparation should begin that will enable it to
fight successfully the battle against evil.
Especially does responsibility rest upon the mother. She,
by whose lifeblood the child is nourished and its physical
frame built up, imparts to it also mental and spiritual
influences that tend to the shaping of mind and character. It was
Jochebed, the Hebrew mother, who, strong in faith, was "not
afraid of the king's commandment" (Hebrews 11:23), of
whom was born Moses, the deliverer of Israel. It was
Hannah, the woman of prayer and self-sacrifice and heavenly
inspiration, who gave birth to Samuel, the heaven-instructed
child, the incorruptible judge, the founder of Israel's sacred
schools. It was Elizabeth the kinswoman and kindred spirit
of Mary of Nazareth, who was the mother of the Saviour's
herald.
Temperance and Self-Control
The carefulness with which the mother should guard her
habits of life is taught in the Scriptures. When the Lord
would raise up Samson as a deliverer for Israel, "the angel of
Jehovah" appeared to the mother, with special instruction
concerning her habits, and also for the treatment of her child.
"Beware," he said, "and now drink no wine nor strong drink,
neither eat any unclean thing." Judges 13:13, 7.
The effect of prenatal influences is by many parents looked
upon as a matter of little moment; but heaven does not so
regard it. The message sent by an angel of God, and twice
given in the most solemn manner, shows it to be deserving of
our most careful thought.
In the words spoken to the Hebrew mother, God speaks
to all mothers in every age. "Let her beware," the angel said;
"all that I commanded her let her observe." The well-being
of the child will be affected by the habits of the mother. Her
appetites and passions are to be controlled by principle. There
is something for her to shun, something for her to work
against, if she fulfills God's purpose for her in giving her a
child. If before the birth of her child she is self-indulgent, if
she is selfish, impatient, and exacting, these traits will be
reflected in the disposition of the child. Thus many children
have received as a birthright almost unconquerable tendencies
to evil.
But if the mother unswervingly adheres to right principles,
if she is temperate and self-denying, if she is kind, gentle, and
unselfish, she may give her child these same precious traits of
character. Very explicit was the command prohibiting the
use of wine by the mother. Every drop of strong drink taken
by her to gratify appetite endangers the physical, mental, and
moral health of her child, and is a direct sin against her
Creator.
Many advisers urge that every wish of the mother should
be gratified; that if she desires any article of food, however
harmful, she should freely indulge her appetite. Such advice
is false and mischievous. The mother's physical needs should
in no case be neglected. Two lives are depending upon her,
and her wishes should be tenderly regarded, her needs
generously supplied. But at this time above all others she should
avoid, in diet and in every other line, whatever would lessen
physical or mental strength. By the command of God Himself
she is placed under the most solemn obligation to exercise
self-control.
Overwork
The strength of the mother should be tenderly cherished.
Instead of spending her precious strength in exhausting labor,
her care and burdens should be lessened. Often the husband
and father is unacquainted with the physical laws which the
well-being of his family requires him to understand. Absorbed
in the struggle for a livelihood, or bent on acquiring wealth
and pressed with cares and perplexities, he allows to rest upon
the wife and mother burdens that overtax her strength at the
most critical period and cause feebleness and disease.
Many a husband and father might learn a helpful lesson
from the carefulness of the faithful shepherd. Jacob, when
urged to undertake a rapid and difficult journey, made
answer:
"The children are tender, and the flocks and herds with
young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one
day, all the flock will die. . . . I will lead on softly, according
as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to
endure." Genesis 33:13, 14.
In life's toilsome way let the husband and father "lead on
softly," as the companion of his journey is able to endure.
Amidst the world's eager rush for wealth and power, let him
learn to stay his steps, to comfort and support the one who is
called to walk by his side.
Cheerfulness
The mother should cultivate a cheerful, contented, happy
disposition. Every effort in this direction will be abundantly
repaid in both the physical well-being and the moral character
of her children. A cheerful spirit will promote the happiness
of her family and in a very great degree improve her own
health.
Let the husband aid his wife by his sympathy and unfailing
affection. If he wishes to keep her fresh and gladsome, so
that she will be as sunshine in the home, let him help her bear
her burdens. His kindness and loving courtesy will be to her
a precious encouragement, and the happiness he imparts will
bring joy and peace to his own heart.
The husband and father who is morose, selfish, and
overbearing, is not only unhappy himself, but he casts gloom
upon all the inmates of his home. He will reap the result in
seeing his wife dispirited and sickly, and his children marred
with his own unlovely temper.
If the mother is deprived of the care and comforts she
should have, if she is allowed to exhaust her strength through
overwork or through anxiety and gloom, her children will be
robbed of the vital force and of the mental elasticity and cheerful
buoyancy they should inherit. Far better will it be to make
the mother's life bright and cheerful, to shield her from
want, wearing labor, and depressing care, and let the children
inherit good constitutions, so that they may battle their way
through life with their own energetic strength.
Great is the honor and the responsibility placed upon
fathers and mothers, in that they are to stand in the place of
God to their children. Their character, their daily life, their
methods of training, will interpret His words to the little
ones. Their influence will win or repel the child's confidence
in the Lord's assurances.
The Privilege of Parents in Child Training
Happy are the parents whose lives are a true reflection of
the divine, so that the promises and commands of God
awaken in the child gratitude and reverence; the parents
whose tenderness and justice and long-suffering interpret to
the child the love and justice and long-suffering of God; and
who, by teaching the child to love and trust and obey them,
are teaching him to love and trust and obey his Father in
heaven. Parents who impart to a child such a gift have
endowed him with a treasure more precious than the wealth
of all the ages--a treasure as enduring as eternity.
In the children committed to her care, every mother has
a sacred charge from God. "Take this son, this daughter,"
He says; "train it for Me; give it a character polished after
the similitude of a palace, that it may shine in the courts of the
Lord forever."
The mother's work often seems to her an unimportant
service. It is a work that is rarely appreciated. Others know
little of her many cares and burdens. Her days are occupied
with a round of little duties, all calling for patient effort, for
self-control, for tact, wisdom, and self-sacrificing love; yet she
cannot boast of what she has done as any great achievement.
She has only kept things in the home running smoothly; often
weary and perplexed, she has tried to speak kindly to the
children, to keep them busy and happy, and to guide the
little feet in the right path. She feels that she has accomplished
nothing. But it is not so. Heavenly angels watch the
care-worn mother, noting the burdens she carries day by day. Her
name may not have been heard in the world, but it is written
in the Lamb's book of life.
The Mother's Opportunity
There is a God above, and the light and glory from His
throne rests upon the faithful mother as she tries to educate
her children to resist the influence of evil. No other work can
equal hers in importance. She has not, like the artist, to paint
a form of beauty upon canvas, nor, like the sculptor, to chisel
it from marble. She has not, like the author, to embody a
noble thought in words of power, nor, like the musician, to
express a beautiful sentiment in melody. It is hers, with the
help of God, to develop in a human soul the likeness of the
divine.
The mother who appreciates this will regard her opportunities
as priceless. Earnestly will she seek, in her own
character and by her methods of training, to present before
her children the highest ideal. Earnestly, patiently,
courageously, she will endeavor to improve her own abilities, that
she may use aright the highest powers of the mind in the training
of her children. Earnestly will she inquire at every step,
"What hath God spoken?" Diligently she will study His
word. She will keep her eyes fixed upon Christ, that her own
daily experience, in the lowly round of care and duty, may be
a true reflection of the one true Life.