Basic HTML Version
Building for Eternity, January 25
That ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Colossians 4:12
.
The Infinite One—He who alone was able to bring order and beauty
out of the chaos and confusion of nature’s darkness—is able to subdue
the rebellious heart of man and bring his life into conformity to the divine
will. His Spirit can quell man’s rebellious temper....
Day by day we are building characters, and we are building for eternity.
God desires us in our lives to give the people of the world an example of
what they should be and of what they can be through obedience to the
gospel of Christ. Let us place ourselves in God’s hands, to be dealt with
as He sees best.... “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (
1
Corinthians 3:9
). If we build in cooperation with Him, the structure that
we rear will day by day grow more beautiful and more symmetrical under
the hand of the Master Builder, and through all eternity it will endure.
Sanctification is a progressive work. It is a continuous work, leading
human beings higher and still higher. It does not leave love behind, but
brings it into the life as the very essence of Christianity.
Christ says to us, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect” (
Matthew 5:48
). He is our example. During His
life on earth He was ever kind and gentle. His influence was ever fragrant,
for in Him dwelt perfect love. He was never sour and unapproachable,
and He never compromised with wrong to obtain favor. If we have His
righteousness, we shall be like Him in gentleness, in forbearance, in
unselfish love. Shall we not, by dwelling in the sunshine of His presence,
become mellowed by His grace?
Let us honor our profession of faith. Let us adorn our lives with
beautiful traits of character. Harshness of speech and action is not of
Christ, but of Satan. Shall we, by clinging to our imperfections and
deformities, make Christ ashamed of us? His grace is promised to us. If
we will receive it, it will beautify our lives.... Deformity will be exchanged
for goodness, perfection. Our lives will be adorned with the graces that
made Christ’s life so beautiful.
[32]
30