Fascinating Power of Fashion
331
of warm underwear and paid the penalty with her life. Many another,
coveting the display and elegance of the rich, has been enticed into
paths of dishonesty and shame. Many a home is deprived of comforts,
many a man is driven to embezzlement or bankruptcy, to satisfy the
extravagant demands of the wife or children
Salvation Imperiled by Idolatry of Dress—Pride and vanity are
manifested everywhere; but those who are inclined to look into the
mirror to admire themselves will have little inclination to look into the
law of God, the great moral mirror. This idolatry of dress destroys all
that is humble, meek, and lovely in character. It consumes the precious
hours that should be devoted to meditation, to searching the heart, to
the prayerful study of God’s Word.... No Christian can conform to
the demoralizing fashions of the world without imperiling his soul’s
salvation
Love of Display Demoralizes the Home—Aided by the grace of
Christ, women are capable of doing a great and grand work. For this
reason Satan works with his devices to invent fashionable dress, that
love of display may so absorb the mind and heart and affection of even
professed Christian mothers in this age, that they have no time to give
to the education and training of their children or to the cultivation of
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their own minds and characters, that they may be examples to their
children, patterns of good works. When Satan secures the time and
affections of the mother, he is fully aware of how much he has gained.
In nine cases out of ten he has secured the devotion of the whole family
to dress and frivolous display. He reckons the children as among his
spoils, for he has captivated the mother
Little children hear more of dress than of their salvation, ... for the
mother is more familiar with fashion than with her Saviour
Parents and children are robbed of that which is best and sweet-
est and truest in life. For fashion’s sake they are cheated out of a
preparation for the life to come
Not Brave Enough to Stem the Tide—Many of the mother’s
burdens are the result of her effort to keep pace with the fashions of the
5
The Ministry of Healing, 290
.
6
The Review and Herald, March 31, 1891
.
7
Manuscript 43, 1900
.
8
Testimonies For The Church 4:643
.
9
The Ministry of Healing, 291
.