172
Daughters of God
disciple of Christ, she is not her own; she has been bought with a price.
Can she honor the Saviour’s claims as supreme? Will body and soul,
thoughts and purposes, be preserved pure and holy? These questions
have a vital bearing upon the well-being of every woman who enters
the marriage relation.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:362 (1885)
.
Wife to Keep Her Own Identity—A woman that will submit to
be ever dictated to in the smallest matters of domestic life, who will
yield up her identity, will never be of much use or blessing in the
world, and will not answer the purpose of God in her existence. She
is a mere machine to be guided by another’s will and another’s mind.
God has given each one, men and women, an identity, an individuality,
that they must act in the fear of God for themselves.—
Testimonies on
Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce, 25 (1885)
.
When Problems Arise
Christ Our Help in Time of Trouble—
The following letter was
written to Mrs. Philip Wessels on March 7, 1897. Portions of it
appear in The Adventist Home. It is hoped that this letter will be an
encouragement to those who face similar circumstances
.
Dear Sister Wessels,
I will pen a few lines to you this morning. I hope and pray that
you will not lose faith, or become discouraged. We all have our
individuality; this cannot be submerged in another. You have a soul to
save or to lose. The Lord will be to you a present help in every time of
trouble. He would have you stand at your post of duty, relying wholly
upon Him who has loved us and died for us.
[184]
You now have a double responsibility, because your husband has
turned his face away from Jesus. As a mother, your work is to bring
your children to the Master. When Christ was upon earth, and the
mothers brought their children to Him, the disciples were about to
send them away, but Jesus rebuked the disciples, saying, “Suffer the
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the
kingdom of heaven.”
I know it must be a great grief for you to stand alone, as far as
the doing of the Word is concerned. But how knowest thou, Oh wife,
but that your consistent life of faith and obedience may win back
your husband to the truth. Let the dear children be brought to Jesus.