Basic HTML Version
Chapter 6—Youth and the Future
An Index to the Future
—The youth of today are a sure index
to the future of society; and as we view them, what can we hope
for that future? The majority are fond of amusement and averse to
work. They lack moral courage to deny self and to respond to the
claims of duty. They have but little self-control, and become excited
and angry on the slightest occasion. Very many in every age and
station of life are without principle or conscience; and with their
idle, spendthrift habits they are rushing into vice and are corrupting
society, until our world is becoming a second Sodom.—
Christian
Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 45
.
The Time to Establish Good Habits
—If correct and virtuous
habits are formed in youth, they will generally mark the course of
the possessor through life. In most cases, it will be found that those
who in later life reverence God and honor the right, learned that
lesson before there was time for the world to stamp its image of sin
upon the soul. Those of mature age are generally as insensible to
new impressions as is the hardened rock; but youth is impressible.
Youth is the time to acquire knowledge for daily practice through
life; a right character may then be easily formed. It is the time to
establish good habits, to gain and to hold the power of self-control.
Youth is the sowing time, and the seed sown determines the harvest,
both for this life and the life to come.—
Counsels on Health, 113
.
To Be Temperate Is to Be Manly
—The only way in which any
can be secure against the power of intemperance, is to abstain wholly
from wine, beer, and strong drinks. We must teach our children that
in order to be manly they must let these things alone. God has shown
[187]
us what constitutes true manliness. It is he that overcometh who will
be honored, and whose name will not be blotted out of the book of
life.—
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 37
.
In our large cities there are saloons on the right hand and on
the left, tempting passers-by to indulge an appetite which, once
established, is exceedingly hard to overcome. The youth should be
186