Conflicting Principles of Christ and Satan
25
An Unequal Contest
Selfishness is the strongest and most general of human impulses,
the struggle of the soul between sympathy and covetousness is an
unequal contest; for while selfishness is the strongest passion, love and
benevolence are too often the weakest, and as a rule the evil gains the
victory. Therefore in our labors and gifts for God’s cause, it is unsafe
to be controlled by feeling or impulse.
To give or to labor when our sympathies are moved, and to withhold
our gifts or service when the emotions are not stirred, is an unwise
and dangerous course. If we are controlled by impulse or mere human
sympathy, then a few instances where our efforts for others are repaid
with ingratitude, or where our gifts are abused or squandered, will be
sufficient to freeze up the springs of beneficence. Christians should act
from fixed principle, following the Saviour’s example of self-denial
and self-sacrifice.—
The Review and Herald, December 7, 1886
.
The Keynote of Christ’s Teaching
Self-sacrifice is the keynote of Christ’s teachings. Often this is
enjoined upon believers in language that seems authoritative, because
there is no other way to save men than to cut them away from their life
of selfishness. Christ gave, in His life on earth, a true representation
of the power of the gospel.... To every soul who will suffer with Him
in resistance of sin, in labor for His cause, in self-denial for the good
[26]
of others, He promises a part in the eternal reward of the righteous.
Through the exercise of the spirit that characterized His lifework, we
are to become partakers of His nature. Partaking in this life of sacrifice
for the sake of others, we shall share with Him in the life to come the
“far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”—
The Review and
Herald, September 28, 1911
.
The Fruits of Selfishness
Those who allow a covetous spirit to take possession of them cher-
ish and develop those traits of character which will place their names
on the record books of heaven as idolaters. All such are classed with
thieves, revilers, and extortioners, none of whom, the word of God
declares, shall inherit the kingdom of God. “The wicked boasteth of