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Who is the Greatest?, May 2
Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3
.
Read the instruction given in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew. There is
nothing more positive than this in all the oracles of God; and yet God is dishonored
and His cause marred by the doing of the wrongs pointed out in this chapter. These
words are for you and for me, and for all who claim to be disciples of the meek
and lowly Jesus. He shows us the principles upon which we are to act in all cases
and under all circumstances. There is to be no striving for the supremacy. Christ
teaches that in His spiritual kingdom it is not position, not outward splendor or
authority, that constitutes greatness, but spiritual excellence manifested in true
conversion.
We are ever to be learners of Christ. He has invited us, “Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and [in your own experience,
as you partake of My spirit and principles] ye shall find rest unto your souls”
(
Matthew 11:28, 29
). Christ’s yoke is a yoke of submission and obedience....
In our daily lives, before our brethren and before the world, we are to be living
interpreters of the Scriptures, doing honor to Christ by revealing His meekness and
His lowliness of heart. Christ’s teachings are to be to us as the leaves of the tree of
life. As we eat and digest the bread of life, we shall reveal a symmetrical character.
By our unity, by esteeming others better than ourselves, we are to bear to the
world a living testimony of the power of the truth. We are not to fear that unless
we labor to be first, self will not be properly estimated. If men had higher and
greater views of Christ, if they had greater confidence in Him and less confidence
in themselves, their characters would be molded and fashioned after the divine
likeness. When self is hid in Christ, the Saviour will appear as the One altogether
lovely and the chiefest among ten thousand.
When men submit entirely to God, eating the bread of life and drinking the
water of salvation, they will grow up into Christ. Their characters are composed of
that which the mind eats and drinks. Through the Word of life, which they receive
and obey, they become partakers of the divine nature. Then their entire service
is after the divine similitude, and Christ, not man, is exalted.—
Letter 64, May 2,
1900
, to a lay family in Massachusetts.
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