The Signs of the Times
July 8, 1908
Teaching Lessons of Purity
It is the mother's privilege to bless the world by her influence, and in doing this, she will bring joy to her own heart. She may make straight paths for the feet of her children, thru sunshine and shadow, to the glorious heights above. But it is only when she seeks in her own life to follow the teachings of Christ, that the mother can hope to form the character of her children after the divine Example. ST July 8, 1908, par. 1
The world teems with corrupting influences. Fashion and custom exert a strong power over the young. From their infancy children should be taught lessons of purity. Mothers can not begin too early to fill the minds of their children with pure, holy thoughts. And one way of doing this is to keep everything about them clean and pure. ST July 8, 1908, par. 2
Mothers, if you desire your children's thoughts to be pure, let their surroundings be pure. Let their sleeping-rooms be scrupulously neat and clean. Teach them habits of order and neatness. See that they have a daily bath, followed by friction until their bodies are aglow. Tell them that God does not like to see His children with unclean bodies and ragged garments. Then go farther and speak of inward purity. Let it be your constant effort to uplift and ennoble your children. ST July 8, 1908, par. 3
Order is Heaven's first law, and the Lord desires His people to give in their homes a representation of the order and harmony which pervade the heavenly courts. Truth never places her delicate feet in the path of uncleanness and impurity. Truth does not make men and women coarse or rough or untidy. It raises all who accept it to a higher level. Under Christ's influence, a work of constant refinement goes on. ST July 8, 1908, par. 4
We are living in the last days. Soon Christ is coming for His people, to take them to the mansions He is preparing for them. But nothing that defiles can enter those mansions. Heaven is pure and holy, and those who pass thru the gates of the city of God must be clothed with inward and outward purity. They must be without “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” The charge to us is, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting [holiness] in the fear of God.” ST July 8, 1908, par. 5
Influence of Association
God's word places great stress upon the influence of association, even upon men and women. How much greater is its power upon the developing mind and character of children and youth! The company they keep, the principles they adopt, the habits they form, will decide the question of their usefulness here, and of their future eternal interest. ST July 8, 1908, par. 6
It is a terrible fact, and one that should make the hearts of parents tremble, that in so many of the schools and colleges to which the youth are sent for mental culture and discipline, influences prevail which misshape the character, divert the mind from life's true aims, and debase the morals. Thru contact with the irreligious, the pleasure-loving, and the corrupt, many, many youth lose the simplicity and purity, the faith in God, and the spirit of self-sacrifice that Christian fathers and mothers have cherished and guarded by careful instruction and earnest prayer. ST July 8, 1908, par. 7
Many who enter school with the purpose of fitting themselves for some line of unselfish ministry become absorbed in secular studies. An ambition is aroused to win distinction in scholarship and to gain position and honor in the world. The purpose for which they entered school is lost sight of, and the life is given up to selfish and worldly pursuits. And often habits are formed that ruin the life both for this world and for the world to come. ST July 8, 1908, par. 8
As a rule, men and women who have broad ideas, unselfish purposes, noble aspirations, are those in whom these characteristics were developed by their association in early years. In all His dealings with Israel, God urged upon them the importance of guarding the associations of their children. All the arrangements of civil, religious, and social life were made with a view to preserving the children from harmful companionship, and making them, from their earliest years, familiar with the precepts and principles of the law of God. The object-lesson given at the birth of the nation was of a nature deeply to impress all hearts. Before the last terrible judgment came upon the Egyptians in the death of the first-born, God commanded His people to gather their children into their own homes. The door-post of every house was marked with blood, and within the protection assured by this token all were to abide. So today parents who love and fear God are to keep their children under “the bond of the covenant,”—within the protection of those sacred influences made possible thru Christ's redeeming blood. ST July 8, 1908, par. 9