Building and Furnishing the Home
109
precious. They bring into the home a heavy burden of care and labor
and perplexity....
Furnish your home with things plain and simple, things that will
bear handling, that can be easily kept clean, and that can be replaced
without great expense. By exercising taste, you can make a very simple
home attractive and inviting, if love and contentment are there
Happiness is not found in empty show. The more simple the order
of a well-regulated household, the happier will that home be
Avoid the Spirit of Rivalry—Life is a disappointment and a
weariness to many persons because of the unnecessary labor with
which they burden themselves in meeting the claims of custom. Their
minds are continually harassed with anxiety as to supplying wants
[151]
which are the offspring of pride and fashion....
The expense, the care, and labor lavished on that which, if not
positively injurious, is unnecessary would go far toward advancing the
cause of God if applied to a worthier object. People crave what are
called the luxuries of life, and sacrifice health, strength, and means
to obtain them. A lamentable spirit of rivalry is manifested among
persons of the same class as to who shall make the greatest display
in matters of dress and of household expenditure. The sweet word
“Home” is perverted to mean “something with four walls, filled with
elegant furniture and adornments,” while its inmates are on a continual
strain to meet the requirements of custom in the different departments
of life
Many are unhappy in their home life because they are trying so
hard to keep up appearances. They expend large sums of money and
labor unremittingly that they may make a display and gain the praise
of their associates—those who really care nothing for them or their
prosperity. One article after another is considered indispensable to
the household appointments, until many expensive additions are made
that, while they please the eye and gratify pride and ambition, do not in
the least increase the comfort of the family. And yet these things have
taxed the strength and patience, and consumed valuable time which
should have been given to the service of the Lord.
5
Ibid., 367, 370
.
6
The Signs of the Times, August 23, 1877
.
7
The Signs of the Times, August 23, 1877
.