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The Highest Culture, May 14
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth
understanding.
Proverbs 3:13
.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the man who
consents to be molded and fashioned after the divine similitude is the
noblest specimen of the work of God....
The experimental knowledge of true godliness, in daily consecration
and service to God, ensures the highest culture of the mind, soul, and
body.... The impartation of divine power honors our sincere striving after
wisdom for the conscientious use of our highest faculties to honor God
and bless our fellow men. As these faculties are derived from God, and
not self-created, they should be appreciated as talents from God to be
employed in His service.
The Heaven-entrusted faculties of the mind are to be treated as the
higher powers, to rule the kingdom of the body. The natural appetites and
passions are to be brought under the control of the conscience and the
spiritual affections....
The religion of Jesus Christ never degrades the receiver; it never
makes him coarse or rough, discourteous or self-important, passionate or
hardhearted. On the contrary, it refines the taste, sanctifies the judgment,
purifies and ennobles the thoughts by bringing them into captivity to Jesus
Christ.
God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought
can reach. The living God has given in His holy law a transcript of His
character. The greatest Teacher the world has ever known is Jesus Christ.
And what is the standard He has given for all who believe in Him to reach?
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”
(
Matthew 5:48
). As God is perfect in His high sphere of action, so man
may be perfect in his human sphere. The ideal of Christian character is
Christlikeness. There is opened before us a path of continual advancement.
We have an object to reach, a standard to gain which includes everything
good and pure and noble and elevated. There should be continual striving
and constant progress onward and upward toward perfection of character.
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