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Perfect in Him, January 24
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.
Matthew 5:48
.
God requires moral perfection in all. Those who have been given light and
opportunities should, as God’s stewards, aim for perfection, and never, never
lower the standard of righteousness to accommodate inherited and cultivated
tendencies to wrong. Christ took upon Him our human nature, and lived our
life, to show us that we may be like Him by partaking of the divine nature.
We may be holy, as Christ was holy in human nature. Why then are there so
many disagreeable characters in the world? It is because they do not suspect
that their disagreeable ways and rough, impolite speech is the result of an
unholy heart....
It is the fragrance of our love to our fellow men that reveals our love for
God. It is patience in service that brings rest to the soul. It is through humble,
diligent, faithful toilers that the welfare of Israel is promoted. God upholds
and strengthens the one who is willing to learn Christ’s way....
All right inventions and improvements have their source in Him who is
wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Whatever we do, in whatever
department of the work we are placed, God desires to refine and ennoble us.
He desires to control man’s mind, that he may do perfect work.
The delicate touch of the physician’s hand, his power over nerve and
muscle, his knowledge of the delicate organism of the body, is the wisdom
of divine power, to be used in behalf of suffering humanity. The skill with
which the carpenter uses the hammer, the strength with which the blacksmith
makes the anvil ring, comes from God. He has entrusted men with powers,
and He expects that they will look to Him for counsel. Thus they may use His
gifts with unerring aptitude, testifying to God’s glory that they are workers
together with Him. Thus they purify their souls by sanctification of the Spirit
through the truth. In their experience, the words of Christ are fulfilled, The
pure in heart shall see God (see
Matthew 5:8
).
All should feel that they are working to one great end. The work in every
department is God’s, and those who do that work with exactness, without
blunder, represent God’s perfection.—
Letter 9, January 24, 1899
, to those
occupying important positions in the General Conference.
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