Meeting Life’s Discipline
Beyond the discipline of the home and the school, all have to meet the stern discipline of life. How to meet this wisely is a lesson that should be made plain to every child and to every young person. It is true that God loves us, that He is working for our happiness, and that, if His law had always been obeyed, we would never have known suffering. It is no less true that, in this world, as the result of sin, suffering, trouble, and burdens come to every life. We should teach children and youth to meet bravely these troubles and burdens. We should give them sympathy but never foster self-pity. What they need is that which stimulates and strengthens rather than weakens.TEd 184.4
This world is not a parade ground, it is a battlefield. All are called to endure hardness, as good soldiers. Let young people be taught that the true test of character is found in the willingness to bear burdens, to take the hard place, to do the work that needs to be done, though it bring no earthly recognition or reward.TEd 185.1
The true way of dealing with trial is not by seeking to escape it but by transforming it. This applies to all discipline, the earlier as well as the later. The neglect of the child’s earliest training, and the consequent strengthening of wrong tendencies, makes the succeeding education more difficult, and too often causes discipline to be a painful process. Painful it must be to the lower nature, crossing, as it does, the natural desires and inclinations, but the pain may be lost sight of in a higher joy.TEd 185.2
Let children and youth be taught that every mistake, every fault, every difficulty, conquered, becomes a stepping-stone to better and higher things. Through such experiences all who have ever made life worth living have achieved success.TEd 185.3
“The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.”TEd 185.4
“We rise by things that are under our feet;
By what we have mastered of good and gain;
By the pride deposed and the passion slain,
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.”
TEd 185.5
We “do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18. The exchange we make in the denial of selfish desires and inclinations is an exchange of the worthless and transitory for the precious and enduring. This is not sacrifice, but infinite gain.TEd 185.6
“Something better” is the watchword of education, the law of all true living. Whatever Christ asks us to renounce, He offers something better in its stead. Often young people cherish objects, pursuits, and pleasures that may not appear to be evil but that fall short of the highest good. Let them be directed to something better than display, ambition, or self-indulgence. Bring them into contact with truer beauty, with loftier principles, and with nobler lives. Point them to the One “altogether lovely.” When once the gaze is fixed upon Him, the life finds its center. The youthful enthusiasm, generous devotion, and passionate ardor find here their true object. Duty becomes a delight and sacrifice a pleasure. To honor Christ, to become like Him, to work for Him, is life’s highest ambition and greatest joy.TEd 185.7
“The love of Christ compels us.” 2 Corinthians 5:14.TEd 186.1
*Partial definition of nice: fastidious, refined, delicate, precise, discriminative; calling for great care, accuracy, tact; having high standards of conduct.TEd 186.2