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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
Jesus your Burden Bearer, and seek a more thorough experience in
religious things. God help and bless you, is my sincere prayer.
My tenderest sympathies are aroused for orphans. You indeed
have no home. The grave has taken your father and your mother,
and the home of your childhood others inhabit. You cannot have as
distinct recollections of your godly father as of your mother. You
remember that you sometimes grieved her. You had not learned
submission; you have yet but partially learned the lesson. But the
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prayers of your parents, that you may be among those who love and
fear God, have found a lodgment in heaven.
Oh, this is a cold and selfish world! Your relatives, who should
have loved and befriended you for your parents’ sake if not for your
own, have shut themselves up in their selfishness, and have no special
interest for you. But God will be nearer and dearer to you than any
of your earthly relatives can be. He will be your friend and will never
leave you. He is a father to the fatherless. His friendship will prove
sweet peace to you and will help you to bear your great loss with
fortitude. Seek to make God your father, and you will never want
a friend. You will be exposed to trials; yet be steadfast, and strive
to adorn your profession. You will need grace to stand, but God’s
pitying eye is upon you. Pray much and earnestly, believing that God
will help you. Guard against irritability and petulance, and a spirit
of tantalizing. Forbearance is a virtue which you need to encourage.
Seek for piety of heart. Be a consistent Christian. Possess a love of
purity and humble simplicity, and let these be interwoven with your
life.
By educating yourself to fear God, and to love all around you,
yours can be a useful, happy life, and your example can be such as
to lead others to choose the humble path of holiness. Have moral
courage at all times to do right and to honor your Redeemer. I
implore you, dear boy, to seek true holiness.
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