Special Testimonies on Education by Ellen White

Now you may be saying, “sure, he believes Ellen White was a prophet, so he gives everything with her name on it a A+”.  No, nearly all of her books have been compiled, and some of them have problems – like the book “Maranatha”.  But this book really is excellent, having what you would expect on the “big picture” of education, down to some of the details, and some of the pitfalls to avoid.  It is the best book after the Bible to teach you how to start a school to educate children according to God’s plan, and the information is modern, and brought together in one volume so it is an absolutely essential book for every educator.Here is an extensive listing of excellent quotes from this book, in the order in which they appear in the book.  Quotation marks have been omitted.

The first great lesson in all education is to know and understand the will of God.

The students in our schools are to consider the knowledge of God as above everything else.

…men may, through well-directed efforts, regain their first perfection, and stand complete in Christ.

It is our duty to understand what God requires of us, and what he would have us to be.

Educators of youth…should aim at perfection in their own case, that the students may have a correct model.

The true higher education is what makes students acquainted with God and his word, and fits them for eternal life.

The object of the Great Teacher is the restoration of the image of God in the soul, and every teacher in our schools should work in harmony with this purpose.

It is the duty of each student…to do all in his power to present his body to Christ a cleansed temple, physically perfect as well as morally free from defilement.

Mothers should let little ones play in open air. Teach them from nature. Books may be used later.  Let them also learn, even in their earliest years, to be useful.

In the children and youth an ambition should be awakened to take their exercise in doing something that will be beneficial to themselves and helpful to others.

The love of pleasure is one of the most dangerous, because it is one of the most subtle of the many temptations that assail the children and youth in the cities.

There is a refining, subduing influence in nature that should be taken into account in selecting the locality for a school.

The teacher should be himself what he wishes his students to become.

He who realizes his own deficiencies should spare no pains to reach the highest possible standard of physical, mental, and moral excellence.  No one should have a part in the training of youth, who will be satisfied with a lower standard.

Used as a text-book in our schools, the Bible will do for mind and morals what cannot be done by books of science and philosophy.

While the Bible should hold the first place in the education of children and youth, the book of nature is next in importance.

The most effective way to teach the heathen who know not God, is through his works.

…cultivation of the soil is good work for children and youth.  It brings them into direct contact with nature and nature’s God.

The truth simplified and illustrated is quickly discerned even by children. (this is talking about Jesus’ parables)

There must be earnest, careful, persevering effort to break away from the customs, maxims, and associations of the world.

All those who look to him with undivided hearts, he will greatly bless.

If the people of God rightly appreciated the temporal and spiritual blessings which the Lord has poured upon them through Jesus Christ, continual praise would be upon their lips.

Would it not be well for us to observe holidays unto God, when we could revive in our minds the memory of his dealing with us.

…because they are a peculiar and holy people, they cannot carry the marks of likeness to the world.  (talking about dress and language etc.)

In many of God’s professed people…Christ’s likeness in self-denial and cross-bearing is not discernible by the world or by the universe of heaven.

Never can the proper education be given to the youth…unless they are separated a wide distance from the cities.

Heart and soul are to be put into work of any kind; then there is cheerfulness and efficiency.

Every faculty of the mind may be exercised with comparative safety if the physical powers are equally taxed, and subject of thought varied.

…remember  that you can have no harvest unless the ground is properly prepared for the see.

The pursuit of knowledge merely for its own sake, diverts the mind from devotion to God, checks advance along the path of practical holiness, and hinders souls from traveling the way which leads to a holier, happier life.

As we impart to others, we shall receive more richly.

The value of the human agent is estimated according to the capacity of the heart to know and understand God.

There is no IF about God’s requirements; his word is yea and amen… Pure faith works by love, and purifies the soul.

But faith is not sight; faith is not feeling; faith is not reality.

Moses was not a channel thru which the Lord could labor until he lost his self-confidence, realized his own helplessness, and put his trust in God; until he was willing to obey God’s commands whether they seemed to his human reason to be proper or not.

There is no limit to the usefulness of those who put self to one side, make room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts, and live lives wholly sanctified to the service of God, enduring the necessary discipline imposed by the Lord without complaining or fainting by the way.  If they will not faint at the rebuke of the Lord, and become hard-hearted and stubborn, the Lord will teach both young and old, hour by hour, day by day.

Let the glory of the Lord by your first consideration.

The heavenly intelligences are waiting for human agents with whom they can co-operate as missionaries in the dark parts of the earth.

The Bible, fully received and studied as the voice of God tells the human family how to reach the abodes of eternal happiness, and secure the treasures of heaven.

(talking about educators) Satan has blinded their eyes and the stumbling-block of their iniquity is presented before others by their precept and example. Thus other eyes are blinded…for they do not steadfastly behold Jesus, the Light of the world.

A mind educated to feed upon trash is unable to see in the word of God the beauty that is there.  Love for Jesus and inclination to righteousness are lost; for the mind is built up from that upon which it feeds.

As we try to become acquainted with our Heavenly Father through his word, angels will come near, our minds will be strengthened, our character will be elevated and refined, and we shall become more like our Saviour.

In all who are under the training of God is to be revealed a life that is not in harmony with the world, its customs, its practice, or its experiences.

When God becomes the teacher, he will be acknowledged, his name will be magnified; the students will be as were the young men in the schools of the prophets, who caught the Spirit of God and prophesied.

The knowledge of God is a knowledge which will not need to be left behind when our probation closes, a knowledge which is of the most lasting benefit to the world and to us individually.  Why, then, should we put the word of God in the background when it is wisdom unto salvation.

The amusements are doing more to counteract the working of the Holy Spirit than anything else, and the Lord is grieved.

…schools where the education to love and fear God is made first.

What force of powers is put into your games of football and your other inventions after the way of the Gentiles – exercises which bless no one!

…be a blessing to yourself and to others, gives you substantial satisfaction; for all is done to the glory of God.

I cannot find one instance in the life of Christ where he devoted time to play and amusement.

You should desire above all things that you may know the ways of the Lord.

Who is the author of the book? (Bible) – Jesus Christ.

…Our Father. This name signifies his true relation to us, and when spoken in sincerity by human lips, it is music in the ears of God.

As a church, as individuals, if we would stand clear in the Judgment, we must make more liberal efforts for the training of our young people.

…all our youth should be permitted to have the blessings and privileges of an education at our schools, that they may be inspired to become laborers together with God.

…we cannot trust our youth to go to seminaries and colleges established by other denominations.

The frivolity of the young is not pleasing to God.

The religion of Christ never sanctions physical or mental laziness.

The natural and the spiritual are to be combined in the studies of our schools.

The fact that the only begotten Son of God gave his life because of man’s transgression, to satisfy justice and to vindicate the honor of God’s law, should be constantly kept before the minds of children and youth.

The Bible teaches the whole will of God concerning the sons and daughters of Adam.
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So to be an educator, i need to be what i want my students to become — a pretty tall order!!  But if i do what it says, then there is no limit to my usefulness 🙂

Does anyone else want to join me in helping train our youth to follow Jesus?