Self-Exaltation
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Christ Himself descended from His throne to help just such as these.
You have no right to hold yourself aloof from these faltering ones, nor
to assert your marked superiority over them. Come more in unison
with Christ, pity the erring, lift up the hands that hang down, strengthen
the feeble knees, and bid the fearful hearts be strong. Pity and help
them, even as Christ has pitied you.
You have desired to do a work for the Master. Here is work for
you to do that will be acceptable to Him—the very work that angels
are engaged in carrying forward. You may be a colaborer with them.
But you will never be called to preach the word to the people. You
may have in general a correct knowledge of our faith, but you lack
the qualifications of a teacher. You have not the faculty of adapting
yourself to the needs and ways of others. You have not sufficient
volume of voice. Even in conference meetings you speak too low to be
heard by those assembled. You are also, my dear brother, frequently
in danger of being tedious. Even in small meetings, your remarks are
too lengthy. Every word of what you say may be true, but in order
to find its way to the soul it should be accompanied with a fervor of
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spiritual power. What we say should be right to the point and not of
sufficient length to weary the listeners, else the subject matter will find
no lodgment in their hearts.
There is plenty of work for all to do. You, my dear brother, can
with all safety do good service for the Lord in helping those who most
need aid. You may feel that your work in this direction is not rightly
appreciated; but remember that our Savior’s work was also lightly
considered by those whom He benefited. He came to save those who
were lost, but the very ones whom He sought to rescue refused His
help and finally put Him to death.
If you fail ninety-nine times in a hundred, but succeed in saving the
one soul from ruin, you have done a noble deed for the Master’s cause.
But to be a co-worker with Jesus, you should have all patience with
those for whom you labor, not scorning the simplicity of the work, but
looking to the blessed result. When those for whom you labor do not
exactly meet your mind, you often say in your heart: “Let them go;
they are not worth saving.” What if Christ had treated poor outcasts in
a similar manner? He died to save miserable sinners, and if you work
in the same spirit and in the same manner indicated by the example of