48
Mind, Character, and Personality Volume 2
He would have each one be his own simple self, refined, sanctified,
ennobled by imitating the life and character of the great Pattern. The
narrow, shut-in, exclusive spirit which keeps everything within the
compass of one’s self has been a curse to the cause of God and always
will be wherever allowed to exist.—
The Review and Herald, April 13,
1886
.
No One to Submerge His Mind—God permits every human be-
ing to exercise his individuality. He desires no one to submerge his
mind in the mind of a fellow mortal. Those who desire to be trans-
formed in mind and character are not to look to men, but to the divine
Example. God gives the invitation, “Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus.” By conversion and transformation men are
to receive the mind of Christ. Every one is to stand before God with
an individual faith, an individual experience, knowing for himself that
Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. For us to imitate the exam-
ple of any man—even one whom we might regard as nearly perfect in
character—would be to put our trust in a defective human being, one
who is unable to impart a jot or tittle of perfection.—
The Signs of the
[429]
Times, September 3, 1902
.
Rules for Strong Minds—It is well for Brother and Sister ___-
__ and Brother and Sister _____ to have strong minds. Each is to
maintain his individuality. Each is to preserve an individuality that
will not be submerged in the individuality of another. No human being
is to be the shadow of another human being. God’s servants are to
labor together in a unity that blends mind with mind.—Lt 44, 1903.
Individual Measurement—No man can grow up to the full
stature of a man for another. Each must reach his own individual mea-
surement for himself. Each is to grow up under God’s supervision.—
MS 116, 1898.
No Other Human Being Fully Shares Inner Life—Viewed from
its human side, life is to all an untried path. It is a path in which, as
regards our deeper experiences, we each walk alone. Into our inner life
no other human being can fully enter. As the little child sets forth on
that journey in which sooner or later he must choose his own course,
himself deciding life’s issues for eternity, how earnest should be the
effort to direct his trust to the sure Guide and Helper!—
Education,
255
(1903).