Chapter 2—Letter to a Minister and His Wife Bound
for Africa
Stockholm, Sweden
June 25, 1887
Dear Brother _____,
There are some things I wish to address particularly to yourself
and to your wife. You both need to be guarded; you both have strong
wills, and are not wanting in self-confidence
In your association with others, there is danger of your both being
over-bearing and exacting. You will also be in danger of this in your
own married life, unless you daily humble your hearts before God,
and individually feel the great need of learning in the school of Christ
the lessons of meekness, humility, and lowliness of heart.
Your ways seem to be right in your own eyes, when they may be
far from right. God would have you less self-confident, self-sufficient
Your ideas and plans should be closely and critically examined,
for you are in danger of circumscribing the work, of placing your own
mould upon it, and of using your narrow ideas and cheap plans, which
generally prove to be the dearest in the end. You belittle the work by
so doing. While it is well to exercise economy, let the work of God
ever stand in its elevated noble dignity.
As you are to begin work in a new mission, be careful that your
defects are not exalted as virtues, and thus retard the work of God.
It is testing truths we are bringing before the people, and in every
movement these truths should be elevated to stand in moral beauty
before those for whom we labour. Do not throw about the truth the
peculiarities of your own character, or your own manner of labour....
Do not cheapen the work of God. Let it stand forth as from God.
Let it bear no human impress, but the impress of the divine. Self is
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to be lost sight of in Jesus. It is not safe to allow your own ideas
and judgment, your set ways, your peculiar traits of character, to be a
controlling power. There is a great need of breadth in your calculations
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