I was at a loss for an illustration in the subject of refinement for young girls. I was asked to teach this, to help steer some of them into better ways to dress and speak; different from the world.
The Bible said that Christ was "like a refiner's fire." (Malachi 3:2) I chose several verses that would help them understand refinement, including Philippians 4:8.
To illustrate this, I had two pieces of tarnished silver, that I had purchased at a thrift store. I put one little tarnished silver plate in the middle of the table, while passing around another piece, a sugar bowl, with a polishing cloth. While one girl rubbed a portion of the bowl til she could see her face in it, I spoke of the difference between being polished and unpolished. Crude speach and immodest clothing is like the unpolished piece, and clean speech is like the polished piece. The bowl was passed to the next student who polished another side of it. It went around the room, being polished by each person. At last, it was placed next to the tarnished piece. With just a little effort, it shone. It was now something that showed its value.
All young girls have value, but it is sometimes hidden beneath the tarnish. It needs to be polished by learning how to speak pleasantly and answer without resentment or bitterness. All young girls have an inner sweetness that can be revealed with a little polishing of manners, speech, attitude. We talked about refraining from answering back rudely to authorities. We discussed how to overcome a critical attitude. In the end, they each got another piece of silver to take home and polish. I suggested they keep one side of the little silver coasters polished let the other side tarnish, just to remind them to be their best.
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