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104
The Beginning of the End
wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s
death.”
Young people too often feel that selecting a life partner is some-
thing about which they should only consult themselves. They think
they are fully qualified to make their own choice, without the aid
of their parents. A few years of married life usually show them
their error, but too late. The same lack of wisdom and self-control
that dictated the hasty choice makes matters worse, until marriage
becomes a bitter burden. This is the way that many wreck their
happiness in this life and their hope of the life to come.
If ever the Bible was needed as a counselor, if ever divine guid-
ance should be sought in prayer, it is before taking a step that binds
persons together for life.
Parents should never lose sight of their responsibility for the
future happiness of their children. While Abraham required his
children to respect parental authority, his daily life testified that this
authority was not selfish or arbitrary, but was rooted in love and had
their well-being and happiness in view.
Fathers and mothers should guide the affections of youth so that
they may place those affections on suitable companions. Mold the
character of the children from their earliest years so that they will
be pure and noble, attracted to the good and true. If love for truth,
purity, and goodness is implanted in the soul early, the youth will
seek to be around others who possess these characteristics.
Parents, try to be like our heavenly Father, who is love. Let your
home be full of sunshine—this will be worth more to your children
than lands or money. Let your home love be kept alive in their hearts
so that they may look back on the home of their childhood as a place
of peace and happiness next to heaven.
True love is a high and holy principle, entirely different from
that love which flashes up quickly but suddenly dies when severely
tested. In their parents’ home youth are to prepare themselves for
homes of their own. Here they should practice self-denial, kindness,
courtesy, and Christian sympathy.
The young man who goes out from such a household to stand at
the head of a family will know how to promote the happiness of her
whom he has chosen as a companion for life. Marriage, instead of
being the end of love, will only be its beginning.
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