For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.—Romans 8:14.
A faithful obedience to God’s requirements will have a surprising influence to elevate, develop, and strengthen all our faculties. Those who have in youth devoted themselves to the service of God, are found to be the people of sound judgment and keen discrimination. And why should it not be so? Communion with the greatest Teacher the world has ever known, strengthens the understanding, illuminates the mind, and purifies the heart—elevates, refines, and ennobles the whole person. “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” . . .
God will do a great work for the youth, if they will by the aid of the Holy Spirit receive His word into the heart and obey it in the life. He is constantly seeking to attract them to Himself, the Source of all wisdom, the Fountain of goodness, purity, and truth. The mind which is occupied with exalted themes becomes itself ennobled.—Signs of the Times, December 1, 1881.
When the grace of God takes possession of the heart, it is seen that the inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong must be crucified. A new life, under new control, must begin in the soul. All that is done must be done to the glory of God. This work includes the outward as well as the inward life. The entire being, body, soul, and spirit, must be brought into subjection to God, to be used by Him as an instrument of righteousness.
The natural man or woman is not subject to the law of God; neither, indeed, of themselves, can such people be. But by faith those who have been renewed live day by day the life of Christ. Day by day they show that they realize that they are God’s property.
Body and soul belong to God. He gave His Son for the redemption of the world, and because of this we have been granted a new lease of life, a probation in which to develop characters of perfect loyalty. God has redeemed us from the slavery of sin, and has made it possible for us to live regenerated, transformed lives of service.
God’s stamp is upon us. He has bought us, and He desires us to remember that our physical, mental, and moral powers belong to Him. Time and influence, reason, affection, and conscience, all are God’s, and are to be used only in harmony with His will. They are not to be used in accordance with the direction of the world.—The Youth’s Instructor, November 8, 1900.
From Homeward Bound - Page 218
Homeward Bound