It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
It is good to learn self-control and temperate habits early in life, for this prepares a person to be trustworthy and to hold firmly to principle. Bearing the yoke in youth means surrendering one's own will and way to come into harmony with the rules of home and school. It means being trained to respect father and mother, thereby gaining the foundation principle of order, true self-control, rectitude, and conduct. One who goes through school without learning this will in all probability not make God the guide of youth or manhood, and though conscience may be aroused over righteousness and truth may press until a struggle for control of the heart begins, one who has never surrendered the will must face a hard struggle to surrender to God.
Learning discipline while young means self-culture, guarding the heart, and training the passions to be subdued and ruled by intellect and conscience. This early discipline produces lasting happiness and moral beauty as imperishable fruit. Failing to learn it in youth makes the task far harder later, for ridding the heart of corruption is far harder than pulling weeds from a plot of ground, and cherishing right character is harder than planting beautiful flowers. Youth is the time to take up discipline, care, and responsibility by denying selfish wishes, controlling appetite for dress, pleasure, and spending, reasoning from cause to effect, submitting a headstrong will when crossed, and gaining strength to resist temptation so as not to disgrace family and self and dishonor God.
Loving ease and freedom from care refuses that yoke and leaves a young man a child in judgment and self-control, unfit to be trusted with means, a prominent position, or a family. Bearing the yoke means being trained and disciplined in childhood to govern the spirit and to love care, responsibility, and taxing mental effort. This early training lays the foundation for bearing the burdens and trials of everyday life and for perfecting Christian character in harmony with heaven. Left undisciplined and untrained, governing the spirit becomes very hard, and selfish, uncontrolled habits become natural as breath, like rank weeds threatening to overtop and root out precious plants, so that only earnest, zealous, constant effort against those evils, cherishing the Spirit of God, can overcome them.
Bearing discipline early means accepting unjust hardship as training from God, remaining cheerful, useful, sympathetic, and helpful to others instead of becoming sour, discouraged, and hateful. It means willingly learning obedience and humility first in order to learn to govern others, so God can prepare and lift a person to great responsibility, honor, and usefulness. In Joseph this meant being taken from home, suffering wrong without doing wrong, resisting sensual temptation, losing reputation and liberty, and enduring prison while keeping temper sweet and sympathy warm. He carried religious principle into everything, made himself useful in prison, entered into the troubles of fellow prisoners, took kindly to the lessons God taught him, learned obedience himself so he could later govern, and humbled himself until the Lord exalted him to special honor. Christ's life also illustrates the verse, for although young He bore a heavy yoke of painful toil, sorrow, opposition, misrepresentation, and responsibility in carrying out His mission.
It is good to learn self-control and temperate habits early in life, for this prepares a person to be trustworthy and to hold firmly to principle. Bearing the yoke in youth means surrendering one's own will and way to come into harmony with the rules of home and school. It means being trained to respect father and mother, thereby gaining the foundation principle of order, true self-control, rectitude, and conduct. One who goes through school without learning this will in all probability not make God the guide of youth or manhood, and though conscience may be aroused over righteousness and truth may press until a struggle for control of the heart begins, one who has never surrendered the will must face a hard struggle to surrender to God.
Learning discipline while young means self-culture, guarding the heart, and training the passions to be subdued and ruled by intellect and conscience. This early discipline produces lasting happiness and moral beauty as imperishable fruit. Failing to learn it in youth makes the task far harder later, for ridding the heart of corruption is far harder than pulling weeds from a plot of ground, and cherishing right character is harder than planting beautiful flowers. Youth is the time to take up discipline, care, and responsibility by denying selfish wishes, controlling appetite for dress, pleasure, and spending, reasoning from cause to effect, submitting a headstrong will when crossed, and gaining strength to resist temptation so as not to disgrace family and self and dishonor God.
Loving ease and freedom from care refuses that yoke and leaves a young man a child in judgment and self-control, unfit to be trusted with means, a prominent position, or a family. Bearing the yoke means being trained and disciplined in childhood to govern the spirit and to love care, responsibility, and taxing mental effort. This early training lays the foundation for bearing the burdens and trials of everyday life and for perfecting Christian character in harmony with heaven. Left undisciplined and untrained, governing the spirit becomes very hard, and selfish, uncontrolled habits become natural as breath, like rank weeds threatening to overtop and root out precious plants, so that only earnest, zealous, constant effort against those evils, cherishing the Spirit of God, can overcome them.
Bearing discipline early means accepting unjust hardship as training from God, remaining cheerful, useful, sympathetic, and helpful to others instead of becoming sour, discouraged, and hateful. It means willingly learning obedience and humility first in order to learn to govern others, so God can prepare and lift a person to great responsibility, honor, and usefulness. In Joseph this meant being taken from home, suffering wrong without doing wrong, resisting sensual temptation, losing reputation and liberty, and enduring prison while keeping temper sweet and sympathy warm. He carried religious principle into everything, made himself useful in prison, entered into the troubles of fellow prisoners, took kindly to the lessons God taught him, learned obedience himself so he could later govern, and humbled himself until the Lord exalted him to special honor. Christ's life also illustrates the verse, for although young He bore a heavy yoke of painful toil, sorrow, opposition, misrepresentation, and responsibility in carrying out His mission.