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True Education
preciative of their excellences, forbearing toward their defects, and
helpful to their necessities; which does not make them considerate
and tender, generous and helpful toward the young, the old, and the
unfortunate, and courteous toward all, is a failure.
Divinely Taught Courtesy
Real refinement of thought and manner is better learned in the
school of the divine Teacher than by any observance of set rules. His
love pervading the heart gives to the character those refining touches
that fashion it in the semblance of His own. This education imparts
a heaven-born dignity and sense of propriety. It gives a sweetness of
disposition and a gentleness of manner that can never be equaled by
the superficial polish of fashionable society.
The Bible enjoins courtesy, and it presents many illustrations
of the unselfish spirit, the gentle grace, the winsome temper, that
characterize true politeness. These are but reflections of the character
of Christ. All the real tenderness and courtesy in the world, even
among those who do not acknowledge His name, is from Him.
And He desires these characteristics to be perfectly reflected in His
children. It is His purpose that in us the world shall behold His
beauty.
The most valuable treatise on etiquette ever penned is the in-
struction given by the Savior through the apostle Paul—words that
should be ineffaceably written in the memory of every human being,
young or old: “As I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
John 13:34
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“Love suffers long and is kind;
Love does not envy;
Love does not parade itself,
Is not puffed up;
Does not behave rudely,
Does not seek its own,
Is not provoked,
Thinks no evil;
Does not rejoice in iniquity,
But rejoices in the truth;