Infatuation and Blind Love
241
is laid aside, spirituality dies, and the judgment and eternity lose their
awful significance.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:110
(1882).
When Human Loves Come First—With many, the love for the
human eclipses the love for the divine. They take the first step in
backsliding by venturing to disregard the Lord’s express command;
[304]
and complete apostasy is too often the result. It has ever proved a
dangerous thing for men to carry out their own will in opposition to
the requirements of God. Yet it is a hard lesson for men to learn that
God means what He says. As a rule, those who choose for their friends
and companions, persons who reject Christ and trample upon God’s
law eventually become of the same mind and spirit.—
The Signs of the
Times, May 19, 1881
. (
Sons and Daughters of God, 165
.)
Mixed Marriages—If you, my brother, are allured to unite your
life interest with a young, inexperienced girl, who is really deficient
in education in the common, practical, daily duties of life, you make
a mistake; but this deficiency is small compared with her ignorance
in regard to her duty to God. She has not been destitute of light; she
has had religious privileges, and yet she has not felt her wretched
sinfulness without Christ. If, in your infatuation, you can repeatedly
turn from the prayer meeting—where God meets with His people—in
order to enjoy the society of one who has no love for God and who
sees no attractions in the religious life, how can you expect God to
prosper such a union?—
Testimonies for the Church 3:44
(1872).
Marriage of Christians With Unbelievers—There is in the
Christian world an astonishing, alarming indifference to the teaching
of God’s Word in regard to the marriage of Christians with unbelievers.
Many who profess to love and fear God choose to follow the bent of
their own minds rather than take counsel of Infinite Wisdom. In a
matter which vitally concerns the happiness and well-being of both
parties for this world and the next, reason, judgment, and the fear
of God are set aside, and blind impulse, stubborn determination, is
allowed to control.
Men and women who are otherwise sensible and conscientious
close their ears to counsel; they are deaf to the appeals and entreaties
of friends and kindred and of the servants of God. The expression
[305]
of a caution or warning is regarded as impertinent meddling, and the
friend who is faithful enough to utter a remonstrance is treated as
an enemy. All this is as Satan would have it. He weaves his spell