Chapter 129—Unholy Influences at Work
I entreat the students in our schools to be sober-minded. The
frivolity of the young is not pleasing to God. Their sports and games
open the door to a flood of temptations. They are in possession of
God’s heavenly endowment in their intellectual faculties, and they
should not allow their thoughts to be cheap and low. A character
formed in accordance with the precepts of God’s word will reveal stead-
fast principles, pure, noble aspirations. The Holy Spirit co-operates
with the powers of the human mind, and high and holy impulses are
the sure result....
The low, common pleasure parties, gatherings for eating and drink-
ing, singing and playing on instruments of music, are inspired by a
spirit that is from beneath. They are an oblation unto Satan....
Those who take the lead in these frivolities bring upon the cause a
stain not easily effaced. They wound their own souls, and will carry the
scars through their lifetime. The evil-doer may see his sins, and repent,
and God may pardon the transgressor; but the power of discernment
which ought ever to be kept keen and sensitive to distinguish between
the sacred and the common, is in a great measure destroyed.—
Counsels
to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 366-368
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