Christ’s Teaching
So also Christ presented the principles of truth in the gospel. In His teaching we may drink of the pure streams that flow from the throne of God. Christ could have imparted knowledge that would have surpassed any previous disclosures and put in the background every other discovery. He could have unlocked mystery after mystery, and could have concentrated around these wonderful revelations the active, earnest thought of successive generations till the close of time. But He would not spare a moment from teaching the science of salvation. His time, His faculties, and His life were appreciated and used only as a means of working for the salvation of souls. He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He would not be turned from His purpose. He allowed nothing to divert Him.MHH 259.6
Christ imparted only knowledge that could be used. His instruction of the people was confined to the needs of their own condition in practical life. He did not gratify the curiosity that led them to come to Him with prying questions. He made all such questionings an occasion for solemn, earnest, vital appeals. To those who were so eager to pick fruit from the tree of knowledge, He offered the fruit of the tree of life. They found every avenue closed except the way that leads to God. Every fountain was sealed except the fountain of eternal life.MHH 260.1
Our Savior did not encourage any to attend the rabbinical schools of His day, for the reason that their minds would be corrupted with the continually repeated, “They say ...” or, “It has been said . ...” Why, then, should we accept the unstable words of men and women as exalted wisdom, when a greater, a certain, wisdom is at our command?MHH 260.2
That which I have seen of eternal things, and that which I have seen of the weakness of humanity, has deeply impressed my mind and influenced my lifework. I see nothing wherein mortals should be praised or glorified. I see no reason why the opinions of worldly-wise people and so-called great thinkers should be trusted and exalted. How can those who are destitute of divine enlightenment have correct ideas of God’s plans and ways? They either deny Him altogether and ignore His existence, or they circumscribe His power by their own finite conceptions.MHH 260.3
Let us choose to be taught by Him who created the heavens and the earth, by Him who set the stars in their order in the firmament and appointed the sun and the moon to do their work.MHH 260.4
It is right for the youth to feel that they must reach the highest development of their mental powers. We would not restrict the education to which God has set no limit. But our attainments avail nothing if not put to use for the honor of God and the good of humanity.MHH 260.5
It is not well to crowd the mind with studies that require intense application but that are not brought into use in practical life. Such education will be a loss to students. These studies lessen their desire and inclination for studies that would fit them for usefulness and enable them to fulfill their responsibilities. A practical training is worth far more than any amount of mere theorizing. It is not enough even to have knowledge. We must have ability to use the knowledge aright.MHH 260.6
The time, means, and study that so many expend for a comparatively useless education should be devoted to gaining an education that would make them practical men and women, fitted to bear life’s responsibilities. Such an education would be of the highest value.MHH 261.1
What we need is knowledge that will strengthen mind and soul, that will make us better men and women. Heart education is of far more importance than mere book learning. It is well, even essential, to have a knowledge of the world in which we live, but if we leave eternity out of our reckoning we shall make a failure from which we can never recover.MHH 261.2
Students may devote all their powers to acquiring knowledge, but unless they have a knowledge of God, unless they obey the laws that govern their own being, they will destroy themselves. By wrong habits, they lose the power of self-appreciation. They lose self-control. They cannot reason correctly about matters that concern them most deeply. They are reckless and irrational in their treatment of mind and body. Through their neglect to cultivate right principles, they are ruined both for this world and for the world to come.MHH 261.3
If the youth understood their own weakness, they would find in God their strength. If they seek to be taught by Him, they will become wise in His wisdom and their lives will be fruitful of blessing to the world. But if they give up their minds to mere worldly and speculative study, and thus separate from God, they will lose all that enriches life.MHH 261.4