Safe And Unsafe Associations
353
God, that He has bought you with a price, and you must render an
account to Him for all His entrusted talents
[464]
Special Help Is Promised When Needed—We are not to place
our children where they must associate with the depraved and degraded.
Sometimes God in His providence may bring our youth into association
with those who are impure and intemperate. He will give them strength
of purpose and power to resist temptation, even as He did Daniel and
his associates in Babylon, if they will co-operate with Him. They
must constantly commune with God. They must keep themselves pure,
refusing to do anything that would dishonor God, living always with an
eye single to His glory. They must watch for souls, laboring earnestly
for those in whom the image of God has been defaced, seeking to
reform, to elevate, and to ennoble them
Choose Thoughtful, Serious Companions—The youth who are
in harmony with Christ will choose companions who will help them in
right doing, and will shun society that gives no aid in the development
of right principles and noble purposes. In every place are to be found
youth whose minds are cast in an inferior mold. When brought into
association with this class, those who have placed themselves without
reserve on the side of Christ will stand firmly by that which reason
and conscience tell them is right
Let all who would form a right character choose associates who are
of a serious, thoughtful turn of mind and who are religiously inclined.
Those who have counted the cost and wish to build for eternity must
put good material into their building. If they accept of rotten timbers, if
they are content with deficiencies of character, the building is doomed
to ruin. Let all take heed how they build. The storm of temptation
will sweep over the building, and unless it is firmly and faithfully
[465]
constructed, it will not stand the test
By association with those who walk according to principle, even
the careless will learn to love righteousness. And by the practice of
right doing there will be created in the heart a distaste for that which
15
Testimonies For The Church 5, 398, 399
.
16
Manuscript 18, 1892
.
17
Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 226
.
18
Testimonies For The Church 4, 588
.