To a Young Minister and His Wife
293
You need to become acquainted with the weak as well as the strong
points in your characters, that you may be constantly guarded lest
you engage in enterprises, and assume responsibilities, for which God
has never designed you. You should not compare your actions and
measure your lives by any human standard, but with the rule of duty
revealed in the Bible. You have a work to do for yourselves, Brother
and Sister A, that you have not dreamed was necessary. For years you
have been cherishing temptations and jealousies in regard to us and
our work. This is not pleasing to God. You may think that you believe
the testimonies that God has given, but unbelief in regard to their being
of God is gaining ground with you.
Your labors, Brother A, would be more effectual in the conversion
of souls to the truth if you dwelt upon the practical as well as the
theoretical, having the living, practical elements in your own heart
and carrying them out in your own life. You need to have a firmer
hold from above. You are too dependent upon your surroundings.
If you have a large congregation, you are elevated, and you desire
to address them. But sometimes your congregations diminish, your
spirits sink, and you have but little courage to labor. Surely something
is wanting. Your hold is not firm enough upon God. Some of the most
important truths in the teachings of Christ were preached by Him to
one Samaritan woman who came to draw water as He, being weary, sat
upon the well to rest. The fountain of living waters was within Him.
The fountain of living waters must be in us, springing up to refresh
those who are brought under our influence.
Christ sought for men wherever He could find them—in the public
streets, in private houses, in the synagogues, by the seaside. He toiled
all day, preaching to the multitude and healing the sick that were
brought to Him; and frequently, after He had dismissed the people that
they might return to their homes to rest and sleep, He spent the entire
night in prayer, to come forth and renew His labors in the morning. O
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brother and sister, you do not know anything in reality of self-denial
and self-sacrifice for Christ and for the truth’s sake. You must depend
more fully upon God and less upon your own abilities. You need to
hide in God.
You are inclined, Brother A, to be severe in reproof and to form
your own conclusions in regard to individuals, especially if their course
has crossed your track; and, according to your views of the case, you