"As you faithfully do your duty in the home, the father as a priest of the household, the mother as a home missionary, you are multiplying agencies for doing good outside of the home. As you improve your own powers, you are becoming better fitted to labor in the church and in the neighborhood. By binding your children to yourselves and to God, fathers and mothers and children become laborers together with God. 7T 67.1"
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
The EGW passage aligns with the principle of parental responsibility in raising children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, as expressed in Ephesians 6:4. It expands on the roles of the father and mother in this process and emphasizes the importance of binding children to God.
"***** The life of the true believer reveals an indwelling Saviour. The follower of Jesus is Christlike in spirit and in temper. Like Christ, he is meek and humble. His faith works by love and purifies the soul. His whole life is a testimony to the power of the grace of Christ. The pure doctrines of the gospel never degrade the receiver, never make him coarse, or rough, or uncourteous. The gospel refines, ennobles, and elevates, sanctifying the judgment and influencing the whole life. 7T 67.2"
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
The EGW passage closely parallels the description of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Both passages emphasize the qualities of love, meekness, gentleness, and the transformative power of faith in shaping the character and life of a believer.
"***** God will not suffer one of His truehearted workers to be left alone to struggle against great odds and be overcome. He preserves as a precious jewel everyone whose life is hid with Christ in God. Of every such an one He says: “I ... will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee.” Haggai 2:23 . 7T 67.3"
"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
EGW directly quotes Haggai 2:23 and connects it to the idea of God preserving His workers. The Colossians verse is related to the concept of being 'hid with Christ,' which is also mentioned in the EGW passage, strengthening the connection.
"In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts."
Ellen White directly references Haggai 2:23 in this passage.