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Mind, Character, and Personality Volume 1
and love is dearer to God than the most costly gift. The poor widow
gave her living to do the little that she did. She deprived herself of
food in order to give those two mites to the cause she loved. And she
did it in faith, believing that her heavenly Father would not overlook
her great need. It was this unselfish spirit and childlike faith that won
the Saviour’s commendation.—
The Desire of Ages, 615
(1898).
God Reveals the Motives—God leads His people on, step by
step. He brings them into positions which are calculated to reveal the
motives of the heart. Some endure at one point but fall off at the next.
At every advance step the heart is tested and tried a little closer. If
any find their hearts opposed to the straight work of God, it should
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convince them that they have a work to do in overcoming, or they
will be finally rejected of the Lord.—
The Review and Herald, April 8,
1880
. (HC 162.)
Our Secret Motives Decide Destiny—Our acts, our words, even
our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny
for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear
their testimony to justify or to condemn.—
The Great Controversy, 486,
487
(1911).
God Estimates Men by Purity of Motive—Not by their wealth,
their education, or their position does God estimate men. He estimates
them by their purity of motive and their beauty of character. He looks
to see how much of His Spirit they possess and how much of His
likeness their life reveals. To be great in God’s kingdom is to be
as a little child in humility, in simplicity of faith, and in purity of
love.—
The Ministry of Healing, 477, 478
(1905).
God Judges by the Motives—There is much in the conduct of a
minister that he can improve. Many see and feel their lack, yet they
seem to be ignorant of the influence they exert. They are conscious of
their actions as they perform them, but suffer them to pass from their
memory, and therefore do not reform.
If ministers would make the actions of each day a subject of careful
thought and deliberate review, with the object to become acquainted
with their own habits of life, they would better know themselves. By a
close scrutiny of their daily life under all circumstances they would
know their own motives, the principles which actuate them. This daily
review of our acts, to see whether conscience approves or condemns,