Appeal to the Young
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works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If the light of God
be in you, it will shine forth to others. It can never be concealed.
Dear youth, a disposition in you to dress according to the fashion,
and to wear lace and gold and artificials for display, will not recom-
mend to others your religion or the truth that you profess. People of
discernment will look upon your attempts to beautify the external as
proof of weak minds and proud hearts. Simple, plain, unpretending
dress will be a recommendation to my youthful sisters. In no better
way can you let your light shine to others than in your simplicity of
dress and deportment. You may show to all that, in comparison with
eternal things, you place a proper estimate upon the things of this life.
Now is your golden opportunity to form pure and holy characters
for heaven. You cannot afford to devote these precious moments to
trimming and ruffling and beautifying the external to the neglect of the
inward adorning. “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of
God of great price.”
God, who created everything lovely and beautiful that the eye rests
upon, is a lover of the beautiful. He shows you how He estimates
true beauty. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in His sight
of great price. Shall we not seek earnestly to gain that which God
estimates as more valuable than costly dress or pearls or gold? The
inward adorning, the grace of meekness, a spirit in harmony with the
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heavenly angels, will not lessen true dignity of character or make us
less lovely here in this world.
Religion, pure and undefiled, ennobles its possessor. You will
ever find with the true Christian a marked cheerfulness, a holy, happy
confidence in God, a submission to His providences, that is refreshing
to the soul. By the Christian, God’s love and benevolence can be seen
in every bounty he receives. The beauties in nature are a theme for
contemplation. In studying the natural loveliness surrounding us, the
mind is carried up through nature to the Author of all that is lovely. All
the works of God are speaking to our senses, magnifying His power,
exalting His wisdom. Every created thing has in it charms which
interest the child of God and mold his taste to regard these precious
evidences of God’s love above the work of human skill.