Proverbs 23:25

Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

Filial piety

Respect and love for parents are not, indeed, the motives which operate with the greatest force upon minds renewed by the Spirit of grace and truth. With such the most powerful incentives to action are those which derive their origin from the relation we sustain to God, the author of life and salvation. It is sometimes the case that an ingenuous youth is more influenced by the recollection of the counsels of a departed father or mother than he would have been by the same counsels had that father or mother not been taken from him; and never, in any circumstances, does filial piety appear more lovely and attractive.

I. Cultivate a reverence for parental counsels and authority. At no period of their lives are young persons so tempted to disregard parental authority as when they are passing from boyhood to manhood. They are desirous to be thought independent, and capable of directing themselves. They become impatient of restraint, and the advice even of parents whom they both reverence and love is often irksome. Better show your claim to be considered youths of a truly noble and independent spirit by always daring to do what is right, and by always yielding due obedience to parental commands. Despise not a mother’s fears, however unfounded they may be. Be it your aim to remove them, not by maintaining that there is no ground for them, but by reverently receiving her admonitions, and conforming yourself to them.

II. Seek with all earnestness after truth. To how many a father and mother it would be as life from the dead could they be assured that you were all earnestly seeking the pearl of great price, ready and desirous to purchase it at any cost--at any sacrifice! But do not be indifferent to other truth, truths of physical, ethical, or political science. And always keep to truth as opposed to falsehood, dissimulation, and hypocrisy. The commands of God, the social interests of men, the very existence of civil society, call for an unwavering adherence to truth. Attend also to truth in the sense of fidelity, sincerity, and punctuality in keeping promises.

III. Seek after “wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” These different terms were employed not so much for the purpose of exact discrimination, as to indicate the earnestness with which they should be sought. Be it your aim to make all possible advances in both human and Divine knowledge, but especially in the latter.

IV. Seek the company of the wise and good, selecting for associates only those who are distinguished for sobriety of conduct. Your associations, of whatever kind they be, cannot fail to exert an influence over you. If your companions be the wise and good, you cannot but receive advantage from the connection.

V. Be careful in your choice of books. Such is the constitution of our minds that everything we read makes an impression upon them. As is your reading so are you.

VI. Cherish virtuous sentiments and virtuous habits. That your sentiments may be virtuous, you must give yourselves to the study of virtue. (John Maclean, D.D.)