前言
你是否想知道收到一封先知来信会是什么感觉呢?你有没有勇气打开信封阅读其中的内容呢?
本书的信函全部都是上帝所默示写给年轻人的，要帮助他们在恋爱和婚姻上作出正确的选择。
编者对相关环境和人物的背景材料作了一些介绍，放在每一封信的前面。一些长信作了删减，但没有标注省略号。名字作了改动。各编还包括了源于怀爱伦信函的其他勉言。
这种勉言对于人的一生，没有什么时候比在两个年轻人考虑婚姻问题时更为重要了。既然主爱你们，希望你们拥有永生和幸福的家庭，也许只阅读其中的一封信就会帮助你们获得这两者。
我们邀请你来“打开信封”，阅读主对其他象你一样的人所说的话。
怀爱伦著作托管委员会
于美国首都华盛顿
我爱你
“我爱你!”这句话对两个年轻人来说意义非凡!但那位希望我们幸福并在人际关系中获得喜乐的的救主也对我们说这句话，那就更奇妙了。
基督把祂对教会的爱比作丈夫对妻子的爱。圣经中有雅各和拉结那样温情脉脉的爱情故事，也有摩押女子路得那样悱恻动人的故事。她与波阿斯的结合，成了弥赛亚家系的一环。
我们在天上的父关心我们的爱情生活。上帝通过出于灵感的圣经和怀爱伦著作，劝勉寻求幸福的年轻人。
来自圣经的勉言
“你看父赐给我们是何等的慈爱，使我们得称为上帝的儿女”(约壹3：1)。
“我来了，是要叫羊(或作“人”)得生命，并且得的更丰盛”(约10：10)。
“这些事我已经对你们说了，是要叫我的喜乐存在你们心里，并叫你们的喜乐可以满足”(约15：11)。
“摸你们的就是摸他眼中的瞳人”(亚2：8)。
“爱是恒久忍耐，又有恩慈;爱是不嫉妒;爱是不自夸，不张狂，
“不做害羞的事，不求自己的益处，不轻易发怒，不计算(人的)恶，不喜欢不义，只喜欢真理;
“凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐。爱是永不止息”(林前13:4-8)。
“古时耶和华向我显现，说：我以永远的爱爱你，因此我以慈爱吸引你”(耶31:3)。
“因为我深信无论是死，是生，是天使，是掌权的，是有能的，是现在的事，是将来的事，是高处的，是低处的，是别的受造之物，都不能叫我们与上帝的爱隔绝;这爱是在我们的主基督耶稣里的”(罗8:38, 39)。
来自怀爱伦著作的勉言
我写信是因为我爱你的生命。——《怀爱伦信函》 1889年51号
亲爱的青年人，我以坚决的态度对你们说话，是因为希望你们得救。——《给青年人的信息》 140页
亲爱的姊妹们，我写信给你是因为我爱你的生命。——《怀爱伦信函》1894年51号
我不认为你的情况是没有希望的;否则我就不写这些话了。——《教会证言》卷二562页
要接受责备为来自上帝的;要听从本乎爱心的忠告和劝勉。——《怀爱伦信函》1875年30号
要把你的需要，喜乐，忧伤，顾虑和恐惧摆在上帝面前。祂不会被你压倒累垮。连你们的头发祂也数过。祂决不会不关心祂儿女的需要。“主是满心怜悯，大有慈悲”(雅5：11)。祂的爱心被我们的忧伤和陈诉所触动。把郁积在心中的所有事情都交给祂吧!没有什么大事是祂承受不了的，因为祂托住诸世界，治理宇宙的一切事务。也没有什么与我们平安有关的事，在祂看来是微不足道的。在我们的历史中，没有一页是黑暗到祂不愿意阅读的。也没有什么烦恼是祂难以解开的。上帝最小的儿女所临到的每一患难，伤害心灵的每一忧虑，从他们口中发出的每一喜乐的欢呼和每一虔诚的祷告，都会引起我们天父的眷念和立时关注。“祂医好伤心的人，裹好他们的伤处”(诗147：3)。上帝与每一个人的关系，都是十分明确而完整的，就象祂只关照那一个人，只把祂的爱子赐给他一个人一样。——《喜乐的泉源》第100页
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO RECEIVE A LETTER FROM A PROPHET? WOULD YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO OPEN THE ENVELOPE AND READ ITS CONTENTS?[1]
THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK ARE LETTERS WRITTEN UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF GOD AND ADDRESSED TO YOUNG PEOPLE TO HELP THEM MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES RELATING TO THEIR COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.[2]
SOME BACKGROUND MATERIAL RELATING TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND PERSONS INVOLVED HAS BEEN INTRODUCED BY THE COMPILERS. THIS APPEARS ON A PAGE PRECEDING EACH LETTER. SOME LENGTHY LETTERS HAVE BEEN ABRIDGED WITHOUT DELETION MARKS INDICATED; NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. ADDITIONAL COUNSELS, SOME TAKEN FROM LETTERS, HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE VARIOUS CHAPTERS.[3]
AT NO TIME IN LIFE IS THE RIGHT KIND OF COUNSEL SO IMPORTANT AS WHEN TWO YOUNG PEOPLE ARE CONTEMPLATING MARRIAGE. SINCE THE LORD LOVES YOU AND WANTS YOU TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND A HAPPY HOME, PERHAPS THE READING OF JUST ONE OF THESE LETTERS WILL HELP YOU TO HAVE BOTH.[4]
WE INVITE YOU TO "OPEN THE ENVELOPE" AND READ WHAT THE LORD HAS SAID TO OTHERS LIKE YOURSELF.[5]
ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE[6]
WASHINGTON, DC20012[7]
【I Love You】
"I LOVE YOU!" HOW SPECIAL ARE THOSE WORDS BETWEEN TWO YOUNG PEOPLE! BUT EVEN MORE WONDERFUL THEY BECOME WHEN SPOKEN TO US BY OUR SAVIOUR WHO WANTS US TO BE HAPPY AND FIND JOY IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER.[8]
CHRIST HAS COMPARED HIS LOVE FOR THE CHURCH TO THE LOVE OF HUSBAND AND WIFE. THE SCRIPTURES CONTAIN TENDER LOVE STORIES SUCH AS THAT OF JACOB AND RACHEL, AND THE MOVING STORY OF RUTH, THE MOABITE, WHO THROUGH HER MARRIAGE TO BOAZ BECAME A LINK IN THE GENEALOGY OF THE MESSIAH.[9]
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER IS CONCERNED OVER OUR LOVE-LIFE. THROUGH THE INSPIRED WRITINGS OF SCRIPTURE AND OF ELLEN G. WHITE, GOD HAS GIVEN COUNSELS TO YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEIR QUEST FOR HAPPINESS.[10]
【FROM THE BIBLE】
"BEHOLD, WHAT MANNER OF LOVE THE FATHER HATH BESTOWED UPON US, THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED THE SONS OF GOD" (1 JOHN 3:1).[11]
I AM COME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, AND MIGHT HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY (JOHN 10:10).[12]
THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU, THAT MY JOY MIGHT REMAIN IN YOU, AND THAT YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL (JOHN 15:11).[13]
HE THAT TOUCHETH YOU TOUCHETH THE APPLE OF HIS EYE (ZECHARIAH 2:8).[14]
THIS LOVE OF WHICH I SPEAK IS SLOW TO LOSE PATIENCE--IT LOOKS FOR A WAY OF BEING CONSTRUCTIVE. IT IS NOT POSSESSIVE: IT IS NEITHER ANXIOUS TO IMPRESS NOR DOES IT CHERISH INFLATED IDEAS OF ITS OWN IMPORTANCE.[15]
LOVE HAS GOOD MANNERS AND DOES NOT PURSUE SELFISH ADVANTAGE. IT IS NOT TOUCHY. IT DOES NOT KEEP ACCOUNT OF EVIL OR GLOAT OVER THE WICKEDNESS OF OTHER PEOPLE. ON THE CONTRARY, IT IS GLAD WITH ALL GOOD MEN WHEN TRUTH PREVAILS.[16]
LOVE KNOWS NO LIMIT TO ITS ENDURANCE, NO END TO ITS TRUST, NO FADING OF ITS HOPE; IT CAN OUTLAST ANYTHING. IT IS, IN FACT, THE ONE THING THAT STILL STANDS WHEN ALL ELSE HAS FALLEN (1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8 PHILLIPS).[17]
THE LORD HATH APPEARED OF OLD UNTO ME, SAYING, YEA, I HAVE LOVED THEE WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE; THEREFORE WITH LOVING-KINDNESS HAVE I DRAWN THEE (JEREMIAH 31:3).[18]
FOR I AM PERSUADED, THAT NEITHER DEATH, NOR LIFE, NOR ANGELS, NOR PRINCIPALITIES, NOR POWERS, NOR THINGS PRESENT, NOR THINGS TO COME, NOR HEIGHT, NOR DEPTH, NOR ANY OTHER CREATURE, SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD, WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD" (ROMANS 8:38, 39).[19]
【From the Writings of Ellen G. White】
I write because I love your soul.--Letter 51, 1889.[20]
Dear youth, I wish to speak decidedly to you, because I want you to be saved.--Messages to Young People, p. 140.[21]
My dear sister, I have written to you because I have a love for your soul.--Letter 51, 1894.[22]
I do not consider your case hopeless; if I did my pen would not be tracing these lines.--Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 562.[23]
Take reproof as from God, take counsel and advice given in love.--Letter 30, 1875.[24]
Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." James 5:11. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Psalm 147:3. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, nor another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.--Steps to Christ, p. 100.[25]
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