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A Fountain of Pleasure and Joy, March 18
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalm 16:11
.
The beauty of the mind, the purity of the soul, revealed in the countenance, will
have more power to attract and exert an influence upon hearts than any outward
adorning....
A cultivated mind, adorned with the grace of meekness and humility, a pure and
upright heart, will be reflected in the countenance, and command love and respect....
[Children and youth] can, through cultivation of the intellect, depending upon
God for success, develop firm and beautiful characters. The fear of God, the
contemplation of the glories of nature in His created works, will never dwarf the
intellect, but will have a tendency to strengthen every faculty of the soul.
It is the precious privilege of children and youth to yield their minds to the
control of the Spirit of God and become intellectual Christians. Their mental and
moral powers may grow in harmonious proportions. Their understanding may be
strong, their consciences, pure, and their characters, lovely....
If you would find happiness and peace in all you do, you must do everything
in reference to the glory of God. If you would have peace in your hearts, you must
seek earnestly to imitate the life of Christ. Then there will be no need of affecting
cheerfulness, or of your seeking for pleasure in the indulgence of pride and the
frivolities of the world. You will have a serenity and happiness in rightdoing that
you can never realize in a course of wrong.
Jesus took human nature, passing through infancy, childhood, and youth, that
He might know how to sympathize with all, and leave an example for all children
and youth. He is acquainted with the temptations and weaknesses of children. He
has, in His love, opened the fountain of pleasure and joy for the soul that trusts in
Him. By seeking to honor Christ and to follow His example, children and youth can
be truly happy. They may feel their accountability to labor with Jesus Christ in the
great plan of saving souls.
If youth will feel their responsibility before God, they will be elevated above
everything that is mean, selfish, and impure. Life to such will be full of importance.
They will realize that they have something great and glorious to live for. This will
have an influence upon youth to make them earnest, cheerful, and strong under all
the burdens, discouragements, and difficulties of life, as was their divine Pattern....
The consciousness that you are doing those things which God can approve will
make you strong in His strength; and by copying the Pattern, you may, like Him,
increase in wisdom, and in favor with God and man (
Youth’s Instructor, September
1, 1873
).
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