62
A Solemn Appeal
can, what the offspring of such parents must be. Will not the children
sink lower in the scale than their parents? Parents give the stamp of
character to their children. Children that are born of these parents
inherit qualities of mind from them which are of a low and base order.
Satan nourishes anything tending to corruption. The matter now to be
settled is, shall the wife feel bound to yield implicitly to the demands
of her husband when she sees that nothing but base passions control
him, and when her reason and knowledge are convinced that she does
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it to the injury of her body, which God has enjoined upon her to possess
in sanctification and honor, and to preserve a living sacrifice to God?
It is not pure, holy love which leads the wife to gratify the animal
propensities of her husband at the expense of health and life. If she
possesses true love and wisdom, she will seek to divert the mind of
her husband from the gratification of lustful passions, to high and
spiritual themes, dwelling upon interesting spiritual subjects. It may
be necessary to humbly and affectionately urge, even at the risk of
his displeasure, that she cannot debase her body by yielding to sexual
excess. She should, in a tender, kind manner, remind him that God
has the first and highest claim upon her entire being, which claim she
cannot disregard, for she will be held accountable in the great day of
God. “What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own? for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
. “Ye
are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”
1 Corinthians
7:23
.
Woman can do much, if she will, through her judicious influence,
by elevating her affections, and in sanctification and honor preserving
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her refined, womanly dignity. In thus doing, she can save her husband
and herself, thus performing a double work, and fulfilling her high
mission, sanctifying her husband by her influence. In this delicate,
difficult matter to manage, much wisdom and patience are necessary,
as well as moral courage and fortitude. Strength and grace can be
found in prayer. Sincere love is to be the ruling principle of the heart.
Love to God and love to your husband can be the only right ground of
action.
Let the woman decide that it is the husband’s prerogative to have
full control of her body, and to mold her mind to suit his in every