Chapter 12—Self-Exaltation
Dear Brother N,
In my last vision your case was presented before me. I was shown
that there are defects in your Christian character that must be overcome
before you can perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. You love the
truth, but you need to be sanctified by it. You are not selfish nor
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niggardly in hospitality or in sustaining the cause of truth; but there is
one kind of selfishness which exists in your heart. You are wedded to
your own opinion and extol your own judgment above that of others.
You are in danger of exalting yourself above your brethren. You are
exacting and are inclined to carry out your own ideas, independent of
your brethren, because you consider your intelligence and experience
superior to theirs. In this you fail to carry out the apostle’s injunction:
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” You have your
notions, your purposes, and your plans, and you imagine they can
never be incorrect.
In your household you have always taken too much of the manage-
ment upon yourself. When your opinions or plans have been crossed,
instead of conceding to, or compromising with, those who opposed
you, considering that they as well as yourself had a right to their inde-
pendent judgment, you have felt vexed and hurt. You could not endure
that your family should call your plans in question or offer suggestions
differing from your opinions. In consequence of this unpleasant state
of affairs your family have usually submitted their wishes to yours,
and allowed you to have your own way, in order to preserve harmony
at home. Therefore there has been in your family much long-suffering,
much patient indulgence of your whims. This appears to you only a
proper observance of your legitimate authority; you consider it sound
and correct management on your part.
Whenever your determination to carry out your own judgment at
all hazards has driven your friends to the opposite extreme and to feel
contempt for your arbitrary spirit, you have felt and intimated that
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