General Principles Governing Worker Remuneration
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of the sacred fire of God’s kindling? The strained, tattered efforts hurt
the speaker and disappoint the listeners. He has had no time to seek
the Lord, no time to ask in faith for the unction of the Holy Spirit.
Shall we not change this way of working?—
Manuscript 101, 1902
.
Avoid Cultivating Expensive Tastes
The workers must arouse themselves to see afar off. With many
self-denial and self-sacrifice are dead, and these elements must be
raised to life again. Men must understand that the large wages which
they demand are sapping the Lord’s treasury. They are binding up
God’s money in private interests, and by their actions are saying to the
world, “My Lord delayeth his coming” (
Matthew 24:48
). Shall not
this thing be changed? Who will come up to the great example of the
Master Worker?—
Letter 120, 1899
.
Do not talk about your meager wages. Do not cultivate a taste for
expensive articles of dress or furniture. Let the work advance as it
began, in simple self-denial and faith. Let a different order of things
come in.—
Letter 94, 1899
.
Spirit of Self-Denial of Early Days Required Now
There is just as much self-denial required now as when we first
started in the work, when we were only a little handful of people, when
we knew what self-denial meant, what self-sacrifice meant, when we
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tried to get out the little papers, little leaflets, that should go to those
who were in darkness. There are a few connected with the office today
who were with us then. For years we received no wages, except barely
enough to furnish us with the plainest food and clothing. We were
glad to wear secondhand clothes, and sometimes we had hardly food
enough to sustain our strength. Everything else was put into the work.
After a time my husband received six dollars a week, and we lived on
that, and I worked with him in the cause. Others labored in a similar
way....
Those that have come in to take up the work, after it has been made
a success, should walk very modestly. They should manifest the spirit
of self-sacrifice. God means that the institutions here shall be carried