Chapter 74—Safe And Unsafe Associations
Things Which Influence Us and Our Children—Every associ-
ation we form, however limited, exerts some influence upon us. The
extent to which we yield to that influence will be determined by the
degree of intimacy, the constancy of the intercourse, and our love and
veneration for the one with whom we associate
If we place ourselves among associates whose influence has a
tendency to make us forgetful of the high claims the Lord has upon
us, we invite temptation and become too weak in moral power to
resist it. We come to partake of the spirit and cherish the ideas of
our associates and to place sacred and eternal things lower than the
ideas of our friends. We are, in short, leavened just as the enemy of all
righteousness designed we should be.
The young, if brought under this influence, are more easily affected
by it than those who are older. Everything leaves its impress upon
their minds—the countenances they look upon, the voices they hear,
the places they visit, the company they keep, and the books they read.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance for this world and the
next of the associations we choose for ourselves and, more especially,
for our children
Dangers of Associating With the Ungodly—The world is not
to be our criterion. We are not to associate with the ungodly and
partake of their spirit, for they will lead the heart away from God to
the worship of false gods. The steadfast soul, firm in the faith, can do
much good; he can impart blessings of the highest order to those with
whom he associates, for the law of the Lord is in his heart. But we
[460]
cannot willingly associate with those who are trampling upon the law
of God, and preserve our faith pure and untarnished. We shall catch
the spirit, and unless we separate from them, we shall be bound up
with them at last, to share their doom
1
Testimonies For The Church 5, 222, 223
.
2
Ibid., 543
.
3
Manuscript 6, 1892
.
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