"they were engaging in innocent amusement. Yet I was shown that it is just such indulgences that separate them from God and make them children of the world. God does not own the pleasure seeker as His follower. He has given us no such example. Those only who are self-denying, and who live a life of sobriety, humility, and holiness, are true followers of Jesus; and such cannot engage in and enjoy the frivolous, empty conversation of the lovers of the world. 1T 269.1"
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
The EGW passage echoes the sentiment of 1 John 2:15-16, warning against loving the world and its pleasures, and emphasizing separation from worldly values to be a true follower of God.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Both passages emphasize the need to be distinct from the world and its values. Romans 12:2 calls for transformation rather than conformity, which aligns with EGW's call for self-denial and a life of sobriety, humility, and holiness.
"A day of heart-rending anguish is before us. I was shown that pointed testimonies should be borne, and that those who will come up to the help of the Lord will receive His blessing. But Sabbathkeepers have a work to do. Hoops, I was shown, are an abomination, and every Sabbathkeeper's influence should be a rebuke to this ridiculous fashion, which has been a screen to iniquity, and which arose from a house of ill fame in Paris. Individuals were shown me who will despise instruction, even if it comes from heaven; they will frame some excuse to avoid the most pointed testimony, and in defiance of all the light given will put on hoops because it is the fashion, and risk the consequences. 1T 269.2"
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Both passages address the rejection of wisdom and instruction. EGW's passage describes individuals who disregard divine guidance, mirroring the fool's disdain for wisdom in Proverbs 1:7.