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Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
they could do at any time if they decided not to stand under the yoke
of obedience, for we did not design to have a few leading spirits in
wrongdoing demoralizing the other students.
I told the principal and teachers that God had laid upon them the
responsibility of watching for souls as they that must give account. I
showed them that the wrong course pursued by some of the students
would mislead other students, if it were continued, and for this God
would hold the teachers responsible. Some students would attend
school who had not been disciplined at home, and whose ideas of
proper education and its value were perverted. If these were allowed
to carry things in their way, the object for which the school was
established would be defeated, and the sin would be charged against
the guardians of the schools, as if they had committed it themselves.
God holds everyone responsible for the influence that surrounds
his soul, on his own account and on the account of others. He
calls upon young men and women to be strictly temperate, and
conscientious in the use of their faculties of mind and body. Their
capabilities can be properly developed only by the most diligent use
of their opportunities and the wise appropriation of their powers to
the glory of God and the benefit of their fellow men.
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To know what constitutes purity of mind, soul, and body is
an important part of education. Paul summed up the attainments
possible for Timothy by saying, “Keep thyself pure.”
1 Timothy
5:22
. Impurity of thought, word, or action will not be indulged by
the child of God. Every encouragement and the richest blessings are
held up before the overcomers of evil practices, but the most fearful
penalties are laid upon those who profane the body and defile the
soul.
Teachers, blessed are the pure in heart—
now
; not, Blessed will
be the pure in heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see
God.”
Matthew 5:8
. Yes, as did Moses, they shall endure the seeing
of Him who is invisible. They have the assurance of the richest
blessings, both in this life and in the life that is to come.
Students, if you will watch and pray, and make earnest efforts in
the right direction, you will be thoroughly imbued with the spirit of
Christ. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”
Romans 13:14
. Be determined
that you will make the school a success. If you will heed the instruc-