"Men and women professing to revere the Bible and follow its teachings fail in many respects to perform its requirements. In the training of children they follow their own perverse natures rather than the revealed will of God. This neglect of duty involves the loss of thousands of souls. The Bible lays down rules for the correct discipline of children. Were these requirements of God heeded by parents, we should today see a different class of youth coming upon the stage of action. But parents who profess to be Bible readers and Bible followers are going directly contrary to its teachings. We hear the cry of sorrow and anguish from fathers and mothers who bewail the conduct of their children, little realizing that they are bringing this sorrow and anguish upon themselves, and ruining their children, by their mistaken affection. They do not realize their God-given responsibilities to train their children to right habits from their babyhood. 4T 313.1"
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
The EGW passage directly addresses the principle of training children found in Proverbs 22:6, elaborating on the consequences of neglecting this duty.
"Parents, you are in a great degree responsible for the souls of your children. Many neglect their duty during the first years of their children's lives, thinking that when they get older they will then be very careful to repress wrong and educate them in the right. But the very time for them to do this work is when the children are babes in their arms. It is not right for parents to pet and humor their children; neither is it right for them to abuse them. A firm, decided straightforward course of action will be productive of the best results. 4T 313.2"
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
The EGW passage echoes the principle of proper parental guidance and avoiding provocation found in Ephesians 6:4, focusing on the balance between firmness and abuse.