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Messages to Young People
own associates. They should remember that the eye of their Heavenly
Father is upon them, and that He sees their every necessity, their every
temptation. There are always to be found in schools some youth who,
by their course of action, reveal that their minds are cast in an inferior
mold. Through unwise training in childhood, they have developed
one-sided characters; and as they have advanced in years these defects
have remained to mar their experience. By precept and example, these
souls lead astray those who are weak in moral power.
Time is golden, dear youth. You must not imperil your souls
by sowing wild oats. You cannot afford to be careless in regard to
the companions you choose. Dwell upon that which is noble in the
characters of others, and these traits will become to you a moral power
in resisting the evil and choosing the good. Set your mark high. Your
parents and teachers, who love and fear God, may follow you with their
prayers day and night, they may entreat and warn you; but all this will
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be in vain if you choose reckless associates. If you see no real danger,
and think you can do right as well as wrong, just as you choose, you
will not discern that the leaven of wickedness is insidiously tainting
and corrupting your mind.
Christ Our Only Hope
Christ was afflicted, insulted, abused; on the right hand and on the
left He was assailed by temptation, yet He sinned not, but presented
to God a perfect obedience that was entirely satisfactory. By this He
removed forever every semblance of excuse for disobedience. He came
to show man how to obey, how to keep all the commandments. He laid
hold of divine power, and this is the sinner’s only hope. He gave his
life that man might be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust....
God has given the youth talents to improve for His glory; but many
apply these gifts to unsanctified, unholy purposes. Many have abilities
which, if cultivated, would yield a rich harvest of mental, moral, and
physical acquirements. But they do not stop to consider. They do not
count the cost of their course of action. They encourage a recklessness
and folly that will not listen to counsel or reproof. This is a terrible
mistake. Young men would be sober-minded if they realized that God’s
eye is upon them, that angels of God are watching the development of