The sin of this age is disregard of God’s express commands. The power of influence in a wrong direction is very great. Eve had all that her wants required. There was nothing lacking to make her happy, but intemperate appetite desired the fruit of the only tree that God had withheld. She had no need of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, but she permitted her appetite and curiosity to control her reason. She was perfectly happy in her Eden home by her husband’s side; but, like restless modern Eves, she was flattered that there was a higher sphere than that which God had assigned her. But in attempting to climb higher than her original position, she fell far below it. This will most assuredly be the result with the Eves of the present generation if they neglect to cheerfully take up their daily life duties in accordance with God’s plan.
There is a work for women that is even more important and elevating than the duties of the king upon his throne. They may mold the minds of their children and shape their characters so that they may be useful in this world and that they may become sons and daughters of God. Their time should be considered too valuable to be passed in the ballroom or in needless labor. There is enough necessary and important labor in this world of need and suffering without wasting precious moments for ornamentation or display. Daughters of the heavenly King, members of the royal family, will feel a burden of responsibility to attain to a higher life, that they may be brought into close connection with heaven and work in unison with the Redeemer of the world. Those who are engaged in this work will not be satisfied with the fashions and follies which absorb the mind and affections of women in these last days. If they are indeed the daughters of God they will be partakers of the divine nature. They will be stirred with deepest pity, as was their divine Redeemer, as they see the corrupting influences in society. They will be in sympathy with Christ, and in their sphere, as they have ability and opportunity, will work to save perishing souls as Christ worked in His exalted sphere for the benefit of man.
A neglect on the part of woman to follow God’s plan in her creation, an effort to reach for important positions which He has not qualified her to fill, leaves vacant the position that she could fill to acceptance. In getting out of her sphere, she loses true womanly dignity and nobility. When God created Eve, He designed that she should possess neither inferiority nor superiority to the man, but that in all things she should be his equal. The holy pair were to have no interest independent of each other; and yet each had an individuality in thinking and acting. But after Eve’s sin, as she was first in the transgression, the Lord told her that Adam should rule over her. She was to be in subjection to her husband, and this was a part of the curse. In many cases the curse has made the lot of woman very grievous and her life a burden. The superiority which God has given man he has abused in many respects by exercising arbitrary power. Infinite wisdom devised the plan of redemption, which places the race on a second probation by giving them another trial. 3T 483,484
“Should women be elected to offices in the church when there are enough brethren? If by this is meant the office of elder, we should say at once, No. But there are offices in the church that women can fill acceptably, and often times there are found sisters in the church who are better qualified for this than brethren, such offices, for instance, as church clerk, treasurer, librarian of the tract society, etc, as well as the office of deaconess, assisting the deacons in looking after the poor and in doing such other duties as would naturally fall to their lot. The qualifications for church elder are set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and in Titus 1:7-9 – We do not believe that it is in God's plan to give women the ordained offices of the church, by this we do not mean to depreciate their labours, service or devotion. The sphere of women is equal to that of man. She was made an helpmeet, or fit for man, but that does not mean her sphere is identical to that of man. The interests of the church and the world generally would be better served if the distinctions given in God's word were regarded.” [Milton C. Wilcox], “No. 176. Who Should Be Church Officers?” The Signs of the Times, Jan. 24, 1895,
