Call to Prayer or Change of Occupation
219
in men who so manage as to draw from the treasury, and leave them
minus the means they so greatly need to sustain the work of God for
this time?—
Letter 36, 1897
.
Freedom Through Self-Denial
Be determined never to incur another debt. Deny yourself a thou-
sand things rather than run in debt. This has been the curse of your
life, getting into debt. Avoid it as you would the smallpox.
Make a solemn covenant with God that by His blessing you will pay
your debts and then owe no man anything if you live on porridge and
bread. It is so easy in preparing your table to throw out of your pocket
twenty-five cents for extras. Take care of the pennies, and the dollars
will take care of themselves. It is the mites here and the mites there
that are spent for this, that, and the other, that soon run up into dollars.
Deny self at least while you are walled in with debts.... Do not falter,
be discouraged, or turn back. Deny your taste, deny the indulgence of
appetite, save your pence and pay your debts. Work them off as fast as
possible. When you can stand forth a free man again, owing no man
anything, you will have achieved a great victory.—
Letter 4, 1877
.
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Personal Debt Not to Hinder Liberality
Some have not come up and united in the plan of systematic benev-
olence, excusing themselves because they were not free from debt.
They plead that they must first “owe no man anything.” But the fact
that they are in debt does not excuse them. I saw that they should
render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that
are God’s. Some feel conscientious to “owe no man anything,” and
think that God can require nothing of them until their debts are all paid.
Here they deceive themselves. They fail to render to God the things
that are His. Everyone must bring to the Lord a suitable offering.
Those who are in debt should take the amount of their debts from what
they possess, and give a proportion of the remainder.—
Testimonies
for the Church 1:220
.
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