| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 24 |
Page 4 |
But this is not the only phase of the temperance question which we must consider. In teaching children and young people, it must seem to be necessary also to present always the duty of abstaining for one’s own sake as well as for the sake of others. Every boy should want to make the most possible of his life, and the use of strong drink works ruin in everyone. It does harm to his body. It injures him mentally. Then, it destroys his spiritual power. It robs him of that delicate refinement which is an ornament to the life that possesses it. It leads him into companionships and associations which are degrading and debasing. As a result, he loses his good name, the respect of worthy people, and the confidence of the community. What the final outcome will be need not be sketched here.
On the other hand, boys should be helped to realize and always to remember that a clean, pure, wholesome, self-restrained youth is the beginning of a noble and worthy manhood. The boys have only one boyhood. Some things they can experiment on, trying different ways to see which is the best. But there is no room for experiment in living. “Youth comes twice to none.” Life has been compared to an arrow, which flies as it is directed on the string. If it is aimed westward, it cannot possibly fly eastward. If the life begins wrong in boyhood and youth, if it is directed toward dissoluteness and debauchery, there is little hope that it ever can be turned about so as to attain the beauty, the nobleness, and the worthiness of an honoured manhood. Let the boys think of this matter seriously and begin right. If they do this, they will find it easy to make all their life manly and noble.
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