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Mind, Character, and Personality Volume 1
formative period of character; nothing with you is to be considered
trivial or unimportant which will detract from your highest, holiest
interest, your efficiency in the preparation to do the work God has
assigned you.
Preserve ever simplicity of action but make your standard high
for the harmonious manifestation and improvement of your mental
faculties. Be determined to correct every fault. Hereditary tendencies
may be overcome—the quick, violent outbursts of temper so changed
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that these manifestations will be, through the grace of Christ, entirely
overcome. We are, individually, to consider that we are in God’s
workshop.—
Letter 23, 1893
.
Facing the Need for Counsel—The young should not be left
to think and act independently of the judgment of their parents and
teachers. Children should be taught to respect experienced judgment
and to be guided by their parents and teachers. They should be so
educated that their minds will be united with the minds of their parents
and teachers, and so instructed that they can see the propriety of
heeding their counsel. Then when they go forth from the guiding hand
of their parents and teachers, their characters will not be like the reed
trembling in the wind.—
Testimonies for the Church 3:133
(1872).
The Highest Training Expected—The Lord desires us to obtain
all the education possible, with the object in view of imparting our
knowledge to others. None can know where or how they may be called
to labor or to speak for God. Our heavenly Father alone sees what
He can make of men. There are before us possibilities which our
feeble faith does not discern. Our minds should be so trained that if
necessary we can present the truths of His word before the highest
earthly authorities in such a way as to glorify His name. We should
not let slip even one opportunity of qualifying ourselves intellectually
to work for God.—
Christ’s Object Lessons, 333, 334
(1900).
The Mind Ever Active—The mind will never cease to be active.
It is open to influences, good or bad. As the human countenance
is stamped by the sunbeam on the polished plate of the artist, so
are thoughts and impressions stamped on the mind of the child; and
whether these impressions are of the earth earthy or moral and reli-
gious, they are well-nigh ineffaceable.
When reason is awakening, the mind is most susceptible, and so
the very first lessons are of great importance. These lessons have a
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