Spirit of the Ministry
553
Complicating Advancement of the Message—The attributes of
the enemy of God and man too often find expression in their spirit and
attitude toward one another. They hurt one another, because they are
not partakers of the divine nature; and thus they work against the per-
fection of their own character. They bring trouble to themselves, and
make the work hard and toilsome, because they regard their spirit and
defects of character as precious virtues, to be clung to and fostered....
Men make the work of advancing the truth tenfold harder than it
really is, by seeking to take God’s work out of His hands into their own
finite hands. They think they must be constantly inventing something
to make men do things which they suppose these persons ought to do.
The time thus spent is all the while making the work more complicated;
for the great Chief Worker is left out of the question in the care of
His own heritage. Men undertake the job of tinkering up the defective
character of others, and only succeed in making the defects much
worse. They would better leave God to do His own work; for He
does not regard them as capable of reshaping character.—
The General
Conference Bulletin, February 25, 1895
.
Hewn and Polished in Service—Those who are defective in char-
acter, in conduct, in habits and practices, are to take heed to counsel
and reproof. This world is God’s workshop, and every stone that can
be used in the heavenly temple, must be hewed and polished, until it is
a tried and precious stone, fitted for its place in the Lord’s building.
But if we refuse to be trained and disciplined, we shall be as stones
that will not be hewed and polished, and that are cast aside at last as
useless.—
The Youth’s Instructor, August 31, 1893
.
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