Our Children and Youth Demand Our Care

There has been altogether too little attention paid to our children and youth, and they have failed to develop as they should in the Christian life, because the church members have not looked upon them with tenderness and sympathy, desiring that they might be advanced in the divine life.CT 41.1

In our large churches very much might be done for the youth. Shall they have less special labor; shall fewer inducements be held out to them to become full-grown Christians—men and women in Christ Jesus—than were afforded them in the denominations which they have left for the truth's sake? Shall they be left to drift hither and thither, to become discouraged, and to fall into the temptations that are lurking everywhere to catch their unwary feet? If they err, and fall from the steadfastness of their integrity, do the members of the church who have neglected to care for the lambs, censure and blame them, and magnify their failures? Are their shortcomings talked of and exposed to others, and are they left in discouragement and despair?CT 41.2

The work that lies next to our church members is to become interested in our youth; for they need kindness, patience, tenderness, line upon line, precept upon precept. Oh, where are the fathers and mothers in Israel? There ought to be a large number who would be stewards of the grace of Christ, who would feel not merely a casual but a special interest in the young. There ought to be those whose hearts are touched by the pitiable situation in which our youth are placed, and who realize that Satan is working by every conceivable device to draw them into his net.CT 41.3

God requires that the church arouse from her lethargy and see what is the manner of service demanded of her at this time of peril. The lambs of the flock must be fed. The Lord of heaven is looking on to see who is doing the work He would have done for the children and youth. The eyes of our brethren and sisters should be anointed with heavenly eyesalve, that they may discern the necessities of the time. We must be aroused to see what needs to be done in Christ's spiritual vineyard, and go to work.CT 42.1