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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
to which they are strangers. Those who profess to be waiting and
watching for the appearing of their Lord should not disgrace their
profession by bantering in deal and standing for the last penny. Such
fruit does not grow upon the Christian tree.
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Brother I, the Lord is not willing that you should perish, but
would rather that you should take hold of His strength and make
peace with Him by a conformity of your will to His divine will. If a
faithful picture of your course in money getting could be presented
before you, you would be terrified. You would be disgusted with
your closeness, your penuriousness, your love of money. You would
make it the effort of your life to obtain the transforming grace of
God, which would make you a new man. The means which came
to you from relatives was a curse to you. It only increased your
money-loving propensity, and was an additional weight to sink you
to perdition.
“The love of money is the root of all evil.” When men employ
their powers of mind and body in obtaining riches, and are content
with the pleasure of laying up wealth which they can never use,
and which will prove an injury to their children, they abuse the
powers which God has given them. They show that their characters
have been made sordid by the absorbing pursuit of gain. Instead
of realizing happiness, they are miserable. They have shut up their
souls to the wants of the needy, and have given evidence that they
had no compassion for the suffering.
My brother, your heart is not callous to the wants and necessities
of others. You have generous impulses, and you love to accom-
modate. Frequently you will readily do a kind act for a brother or
a neighbor; but you make money your god, and are in danger of
valuing heaven less than you value your money. In money getting
there is always danger unless the grace of God is the ruling principle
of the soul. When Christians are controlled by the principles of
heaven, they will dispense with one hand, while the other gains.
This is the only rational and healthy position a Christian can occupy
while having and still making money. We would ask Brother I: What
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are you going to do with your money? You are God’s steward. You
possess talents of means and can do much good with them. You can
deposit in the bank of heaven by being rich in good works. Bless
others with your life. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon