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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
that man is of so great value that Christ could sacrifice His riches and
honor in the royal courts to lift him from the degradation of sin.
If the Majesty of heaven could do so much to show His love for
man, what ought not men to be willing to do to help one another out
of the pit of darkness and suffering! Said Christ, “Love one another,
as I have loved you;” not with a greater love; for “greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Our
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love is frequently selfish, for we confine it to prescribed limits. When
we come into close union and fellowship with Christ, our love and
sympathy and our works of benevolence will reach down deeper and
will widen and strengthen with exercise. The love and interest of
Christ’s followers must be as broad as the world. Those who live
merely for “me and mine” will fail of heaven. God calls upon you as a
family to cultivate love, to become less sensitive in regard to yourselves
and more sensitive to the griefs and trials of others. This selfish spirit
that you have cherished all your lives is correctly represented by the
priest and the Levite who passed by the unfortunate on the other side.
They saw that he needed help, but purposely avoided him.
Each one of you needs to awake and face square about to get out of
the cart rut of selfishness. Improve the short, probationary time given
you by working with your might to redeem the failures of your past
life. God has placed you in a world of suffering to prove you, to see
if you will be found worthy of the gift of eternal life. There are those
all around you who have woes, who need words of sympathy, love,
and tenderness, and our humble, pitying prayers. Some are suffering
under the iron hand of poverty, some with disease, and others with
heartaches, despondency, and gloom. Like Job, you should be eyes to
the blind and feet to the lame, and you should inquire into the cause
which you know not and search it out with the object in view to relieve
their necessities and help just where they most need help.
L needs to cultivate love for his wife, love that will find expression
in words and deeds. He should cultivate tender affection. His wife
has a sensitive, clinging nature and needs to be cherished. Every word
of tenderness, every word of appreciation and affectionate encourage-
ment, will be remembered by her and will reflect back in blessings
upon her husband. His unsympathizing nature needs to be brought
into close contact with Christ, that that stiffness and cold reserve may
be subdued and softened by divine love. It will not be weakness or
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