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Mind, Character, and Personality Volume 1
importance of separation from the world, as the command of God
enjoins. The sight of her eyes and the hearing of her ears have perverted
her heart.—
Testimonies for the Church 4:108
(1876).
Sounds, Sights, and Influences Which Demoralize—There is
reason for deep solicitude on your part for your children, who have
temptations to encounter at every advance step. It is impossible for
them to avoid contact with evil associates.... They will see sights,
hear sounds, and be subjected to influences which are demoralizing
and which, unless they are thoroughly guarded, will imperceptibly but
surely corrupt the heart and deform the character.—Pacific Health
Journal, June, 1890. (
The Adventist Home, 406
.)
Some Associations Like a Slow Poison—Could my voice reach
the parents all through the land, I would warn them not to yield to the
desires of their children in choosing their companions or associates.
Little do parents consider that injurious impressions are far more
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readily received by the young than are divine impressions; therefore
their associations should be the most favorable for the growth of grace
and for the truth revealed in the Word of God to be established in the
heart.
If children are with those whose conversation is upon unimportant,
earthly things, their minds will come to the same level. If they hear the
principles of religion slurred and our faith belittled, if sly objections to
the truth are dropped in their hearing, these things will fasten in their
minds and mold their characters.
If their minds are filled with stories, be they true or fictitious,
there is no room for the useful information and scientific knowledge
which should occupy them. What havoc has this love for light reading
wrought with the mind! How it has destroyed the principles of sincer-
ity and true godliness, which lie at the foundation of a symmetrical
character. It is like a slow poison taken into the system, which will
sooner or later reveal its bitter effects. When a wrong impression is left
upon the mind in youth, a mark is made, not on sand, but on enduring
rock.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:544, 545
(1889).
Eyes Fixed Upon Christ—When Christ took human nature upon
Him, He bound humanity to Himself by a tie of love that can never
be broken by any power save the choice of man himself. Satan will
constantly present allurements to induce us to break this tie—to choose
to separate ourselves from Christ. Here is where we need to watch, to