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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
a healer, and those who are abundant in benefiting others will realize
that wondrous blessing in their hearts and lives.
If your thoughts, dear brother and sister, were directed more in the
channel of caring for others, your own souls would receive greater
blessings. You both have too little human sympathy. You do not
bring your feelings to the necessities of others. You hold yourselves
too rigid and unsympathizing. You have become stern, exacting, and
overbearing. You are in danger of making yourselves conscience for
others. You have your own ideas of Christian duties and propriety,
and you would gauge others by those ideas; this is overreaching the
bounds of right.
Other people have opinions and marked traits of character which
cannot be assimilated to your peculiar views. You have defects and
faults as well as your brethren and sisters, and it is well to remember
this when a difference arises. Your wrong doing is just as grievous to
them as theirs is to you, and you should be as lenient to them as you
desire that they should be to you. Both of you need greater love and
sympathy for others, a love and sympathy like the tenderness of Jesus.
In your own house you should exercise kindness, speaking gently to
your child, treating him affectionately, and refraining from reprov-
ing him for every little error, lest he become hardened by continual
faultfinding.
You should cultivate the charity and long-suffering of Christ. By
a watchful, suspicious spirit in regard to the motives and conduct of
others, you frequently counteract the good you have done. You are
cherishing a feeling that is chilling in its influence, that repulses, but
does not attract and win. You must be willing to become as yielding
and forbearing in your disposition as you desire others to be. Selfish
love of your own opinions and ways will, in a great measure, destroy
your power to do the good you are desirous of doing.
Sister F, you have too great a desire to rule. You are very sensitive;
if your will is crossed, you feel very much injured; self rises in arms,
for you have not a meek and teachable spirit. You need to watch closely
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upon this point; in short, you need a thorough conversion before your
influence can be what it should be. The spirit you manifest will make
you miserable if you continue to cherish it. You will see the mistakes
of others, and be so eager to correct them that you will overlook your
own faults, and you will have hard work to remove the mote from your