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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
Him whom you follow, leaving the results with God, you can never in
this life measure the amount of good you have accomplished.
You are inclined to reach for higher work than that which naturally
presents itself to you. You would seek to influence only the intellectual
and honorable among men. But this class will surely disappoint your
expectations. If they continue long in transgression, they seldom fully
feel their lost and hopeless condition. You should work, as did Christ,
in all humility, and you will not lose your reward. It is as honorable
to work among the humble and lowly, leading them to the Saviour, as
among the rich and great. Above all, do not undertake responsibilities
that you are unable to carry.
Everything possible should be done to make the meetings of our
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people interesting. You may be a great help in this if you take the
proper course. Especially should our social meetings be properly
conducted. A few pointed words in relation to your progress in the
divine life, spoken in a clear, audible voice, in an earnest manner,
without any effort of speech, would be edifying to others and a blessing
to your own soul.
You need the softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God
upon your heart. No one should receive the idea that a correct knowl-
edge of the truth alone will meet the demands of God. A love and good
will that exists only when our ways are acknowledged by our friends
as right, is of no real value, for this is natural to the unregenerate heart.
Those who profess to be children of God and walking in the light
should not feel annoyed or angered when their track is crossed.
You love the truth and are anxious for its advancement. You will
be placed in various circumstances in order to try and prove you. You
may develop a true Christian character if you will submit yourself to
discipline. Your vital interests are at stake. What you most need is true
holiness and a spirit of self-sacrifice. We may obtain a knowledge of
the truth and read its most hidden mysteries, and even give our bodies
to be burned for its sake; yet if we have not love and charity, we are as
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.
Cultivate a disposition to esteem others better than your self. Be
less self-sufficient, less confident; cherish patience, forbearance, and
brotherly love. Be ready to help the erring, and have pity and ten-
der sympathy toward those who are weak. You need not leave your
business in order to glorify the Lord; but you may, from day to day,