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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
and acquisitiveness, the battle will be much harder for her with her
husband’s stewardship and her own to manage. In order to be saved,
she must overcome all these peculiar, evil traits and imitate the charac-
ter of her divine Lord, seeking opportunity to do others good, loving
others as Christ has loved us. She should cultivate the precious gift of
love possessed so largely by our Saviour. His life was characterized
by noble, disinterested benevolence. His whole life was not marred by
one selfish act.
Whatever the motives of the husband, he has placed a terrible stum-
bling block in his wife’s way to hinder her in the work of overcoming.
And if the transfer be made to the children, the same evil results may
follow. God reads his motives. If he is selfish and has made the transfer
to conceal his covetousness and excuse himself from doing anything
to advance the cause, the curse of Heaven will surely follow. God
reads the purposes and intents of the heart, and tries the motives of the
children of men. His signal, visible displeasure may not be manifested
as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, yet in the end the punishment
will in no case be lighter than that which was inflicted upon them. In
trying to deceive men, they were lying to God. “The soul that sinneth,
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it shall die.”
Such can stand the test of the judgment no better than the man
who received the one talent and hid it in the earth. When called to
account, he accused God of injustice: “I knew Thee that Thou art an
hard man, reaping where Thou hast not sown, and gathering where
Thou hast not strewed: and I was afraid, and went and hid Thy talent
in the earth [where the cause of God could not be benefited with it]: lo,
there Thou hast that is Thine.” Saith God: “Take therefore the talent
from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.... And cast ye
the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.” This man was afraid that his Lord would be
benefited by the improvement of his talent.
I saw that there are many who have wrapped their talent in a napkin
and hid it in the earth. They seem to think that every penny which is
invested in the cause of God is lost to them beyond redemption. To
those who feel thus, it is even so. They will receive no reward. They
give grudgingly only because they feel obliged to do something. God
loveth the cheerful giver. Those who flatter themselves that they can
shift their responsibility upon the wife or children are deceived by the