Simplicity, March 20

These Lessons We Must Also Learn

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3.SD 86.1

He who will observe simplicity in all his habits, restricting the appetite and controlling the passions, may preserve his mental powers strong, active, and vigorous, quick to perceive everything which demands thought or action, keen to discriminate between the holy and the unholy, and ready to engage in every enterprise for the glory of God and the benefit of humanity.^{53The Signs of the Times, September 29, 1881.}SD 86.2

The little ones should be educated in childlike simplicity. They should be trained to be content with the small, helpful duties and the pleasures and experiences natural to their years. Childhood answers to the blade in the parable, and the blade has a beauty peculiarly its own. Children should not be forced into a precocious maturity, but as long as possible should retain the freshness and grace of their early years. The more quiet and simple the life of the child—the more free from artificial excitement and the more in harmony with nature—the more favorable it is to physical and mental vigor and to spiritual strength.SD 86.3

Parents should by their example encourage the formation of habits of simplicity, and draw their children away from an artificial to a natural life. Those children are most attractive who are natural and unaffected.^{54Child Guidance, 139.}SD 86.4

The greatest Teacher the world ever knew was admired for His simplicity; for He presented divine truth in such a way that even children could comprehend His words, and at the same time He drew the attention of the best educated and deepest thinkers of the world. By the use of familiar illustrations He made truth plain to the minds of the common people. In simplicity He sowed the seed of the gospel truth in the minds and hearts of His hearers, and it sprang up and yielded a harvest unto everlasting life.^{55The Youth's Instructor, May 4, 1893.}SD 86.5

His [Christ's] glory was in His simplicity.^{56Counsels on Health, 320.}SD 86.6