Testimonies for the Church, Volume 2 - Ellen G. White

the cause of right is so gradual and imperceptible
that it is frequently difficult to tell the time when
the change in them took place.
I think your course highly dangerous. You have
not felt the necessity of heeding the light which
God has given you, and arousing yourself to save
your family, acquitting yourself as a father and
priest of your household. You did not deny the
light given, you did not rise up against it; but you
neglected to carry it out because it was not
convenient and agreeable to your feelings to do
this. Therefore you were like Meroz. You came not
up to the help of the Lord, although the matter was
of so vital consequence as to affect the eternal
interests of your children. You neglected your duty.
In this respect you were a slothful servant. You
have but little sense of how God regards the
neglect of parents to discipline their children. Had
you reformed here, you would have seen the
necessity of the same effort to maintain discipline
and order in the church. Your slackness in your
family has been seen also in your labors in the
church. You cannot build up the church until you
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