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Youth and the Future
189
and drinking is weak, cowardly, debased; but to deny perverted
appetite is strong, brave, noble. In the Babylonian court, Daniel
was surrounded by allurements to sin, but by the help of Christ he
maintained his integrity. He who cannot resist temptation, when
every facility for overcoming has been placed within his reach, is
not registered in the books of heaven as a man.
“Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone!” Have courage to do
the right. A cowardly and silent reserve before evil associates, while
you listen to their devices, makes you one with them. “Come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
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the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto
you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.”
Moral Courage Needed
—At all times and on all occasions it
requires moral courage to adhere to the principles of strict tem-
perance. We may expect that by following such a course we shall
surprise those who do not totally abstain from all stimulants; but
how are we to carry forward the work of reform if we conform to
the injurious habits and practices of those with whom we associate?
...
In the name and strength of Jesus every youth may conquer
the enemy today on the point of perverted appetite. My dear young
friends, advance step by step, until all your habits shall be in harmony
with the laws of life and health. He who overcame in the wilderness
of temptation declares: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with My Father in His throne.”—
The Youth’s Instructor, July 16,
1903
.
Not Removed From Temptation
—Daniel loved, feared, and
obeyed God. Yet he did not flee away from the world to avoid
its corrupting influence. In the providence of God he was to be
in the world yet not of the world. With all the temptations and
fascinations of court life surrounding him, he stood in the integrity
of his soul, firm as a rock in his adherence to principle. He made
God his strength and was not forsaken of Him in his time of greatest
need.—
Testimonies for the Church 4:569, 570
.
The Result of Faithful Home Training
—Daniel’s parents had
trained him in his childhood to habits of strict temperance. They had
taught him that he must conform to nature’s laws in all his habits;