Counsels for the Church - Ellen G. White

very few of the youth are free from corrupt habits. They are excused from
physical exercise to a great degree for fear they will overwork. The parents
bear burdens themselves which their children should bear.
Overwork is bad, but the result of indolence is more to be dreaded.
Idleness leads to the indulgence of corrupt habits. Industry does not weary
and exhaust one-fifth part as much as the pernicious habit of self-abuse. If
simple, well-regulated labor exhausts your children, be assured, parents,
there is something, aside from their labor, which is enervating their systems
and producing a sense of constant weariness. Give your children physical
labor, which will call into exercise the nerves and muscles. The weariness
attending such labor will lessen their inclination to indulge in vicious habits.
Avoid reading and seeing things which will suggest impure thoughts.
Cultivate the moral and intellectual powers.
Not only does God require you to control your thoughts, but also your
passions and affections. Your salvation depends upon your governing
yourself in these things. Passion and affection are powerful agents. If
misapplied, if set in operation through wrong motives, if misplaced, they are
powerful to accomplish your ruin and leave you a miserable wreck, without
God and without hope.
If you indulge in vain imaginations, permitting your mind to dwell upon
impure subjects, you are, in a degree, as guilty before God as if your
thoughts were carried into action. All that prevents the action is the lack of
opportunity. Day and night dreaming and castle-building are bad and
exceedingly dangerous habits. When once established, it is next to
impossible to break up such habits, and direct the thoughts to pure, holy,
elevated themes. You will have to become a faithful sentinel over your eyes,
ears, and all your senses if you would control your mind and prevent vain
and corrupt thoughts from staining your soul. The power of grace alone can
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