Chapter 67—Board Meetings
Those who compose our councils need to sit daily at the feet of
Christ and learn in His school to be meek and lowly of heart. As they
are only weak and erring men themselves, they should cherish feelings
of kindness and pity for others who may have erred. They are not
prepared to deal justly, to love mercy, and to exercise the true courtesy
which characterized the life of Christ, unless they see the necessity of
being in union with Him. The trustees should ever realize that they are
under the divine eye, and act with a continual sense that, as finite men,
they are liable to make mistakes in laying plans unless they are closely
connected with God and are seeking to have every deficiency removed
from their characters. The divine standard must be met.
Everyone who serves in board meetings needs to seek most
earnestly the wisdom from above. The transforming grace of Christ
should be felt in every meeting. Then the influence of the Spirit of
Christ upon the hearts of those present will place a right mold upon
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their work. It will quell tumultuous actions and charm away the un-
hallowed effects of that worldliness which makes men sharp, critical,
overbearing, and ready to accuse.
When these councils meet, a few words of formal prayer are of-
fered; but the hearts of those present are not brought into harmony with
God by earnest, importunate prayer, offered in living faith, in a humble
and contrite spirit. If the trustees divorce themselves from the God
of wisdom and power, they cannot preserve that high-souled integrity
in dealing with their fellow men which God requires. Without divine
wisdom, their own spirit will be woven into the decisions they make.
If these men are not in communication with God, Satan will surely be
one in their councils and will take advantage of their unconsecrated
state. Acts of injustice will be done, because God is not presiding. The
Spirit of Christ must be an abiding, controlling power over the heart
and mind.
You should take the Lord with you into every one of your councils.
If you realize His presence in your assemblies, every transaction will
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