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Truth the Basis of Character, November 18
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psalm 119:11
.
Those who study the Bible, counsel with God, and rely upon Christ will be
enabled to act wisely at all times and under all circumstances. Good principles will
be illustrated in actual life. Only let the truth for this time be cordially received and
become the basis of character, and it will produce steadfastness of purpose, which
the allurements of pleasure, the fickleness of custom, the contempt of the world-
loving, and the heart’s own clamors for self-indulgence are powerless to influence.
Conscience must be first enlightened, the will must be brought into subjection. The
love of truth and righteousness must reign in the soul, and a character will appear
which heaven can approve.
We have marked illustrations of the sustaining power of firm, religious principle.
Even the fear of death could not make the fainting David drink of the water of
Bethlehem, to obtain which, valiant men had risked their lives. The gaping lions’
den could not keep Daniel from his daily prayers, nor could the fiery furnace induce
Shadrach and his companions to fall down before the idol which Nebuchadnezzar
set up. Young men who have firm principles will eschew [shun] pleasure, defy
pain, and brave even the lions’ den and the heated fiery furnace rather than be found
untrue to God. Mark the character of Joseph. Virtue was severely tested, but its
triumph was complete.... The same lofty, unbending principle appeared at every
trial. The Lord was with him, and His word was law.
Such firmness and untarnished principle shines brightest in contrast with the
feebleness and inefficiency of the youth of this age....
The idea that we must submit to ways of perverse children is a mistake. Elisha,
at the very commencement of his work, was mocked and derided by the youth of
Bethel. He was a man of great mildness, but the Spirit of God impelled him to
pronounce a curse upon those railers. They had heard of Elijah’s ascension, and
they made this solemn event the subject of jeers. Elisha evinced that he was not
to be trifled with, by old or young, in his sacred calling. When they told him he
had better go up, as Elijah had done before him, he cursed them in the name of the
Lord. The awful judgment that came upon them was of God. After this, Elisha had
no further trouble in his mission. For 50 years he passed in and out of the gate of
Bethel, and went to and from city to city, passing through crowds of the worst and
rudest of idle, dissolute youth, but no one ever mocked him or made light of his
qualifications as the prophet of the Most High. This one instance of terrible severity
in the commencement of his career was sufficient to command respect through his
whole life (
Testimonies for the Church 5:43, 44
).
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