Appeal to Mothers
15
We do not charge all the youth who are feeble of being guilty of
wrong habits. There are those who are pure-minded and conscien-
tious, who are sufferers from different causes over which they have no
control.
The only sure safety for our children against every vicious practice
is, to seek to be admitted into the fold of Christ, and to be taken under
the watchcare of the faithful and true Shepherd. He will save them
from every evil, shield them from all dangers, if they will heed his
voice. He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.” In
Christ they will find pasture, obtain strength and hope, and will not
be troubled with restless longings for something to divert the mind,
and satisfy the heart. They have found the pearl of great price, and
the mind is at peaceful rest. Their pleasures are of a pure, elevated,
heavenly character. They leave no painful reflections, no remorse.
Such pleasures do not enfeeble the body, nor prostrate the mind, but
give health and vigor to both.
Communion with, and love for, God, the practice of holiness, the
destruction of sin, are all pleasant. The reading of God’s word does
not fascinate the imagination, and inflame the passions, like a fictitious
story book, but softens, soothes, elevates, and sanctifies, the heart.
When the youth are in trouble, when assailed by fierce temptations,
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they have the privilege of prayer. What an exalted privilege! Finite
beings, of dust and ashes, admitted, through the mediation of Christ,
into the audience-chamber of the Most High. In such exercises the
soul is brought into a sacred nearness with God, and is renewed in
knowledge, and true holiness, and fortified against the assaults of the
enemy.
No matter how high a person’s profession, those who are willing to
be employed in gratifying the lust of the flesh, cannot be Christians. As
servants of Christ, their employment, and meditations, and pleasure,
should consist in things more excellent.
Many are ignorant of the sinfulness of these habits, and their certain
results. Such need to be enlightened. Some who profess to be followers
of Christ, know that they are sinning against God and ruining their
health, yet they are slaves to their own corrupt passions. They feel
a guilty conscience, and have less and less inclination to approach
God in secret prayer. They may keep up the form of religion, yet be
destitute of the grace of God in the heart. They have no devotedness