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Helping the Tempted
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darkness and who lack resolution and moral power. Most pitiable is
the condition of those who are suffering under remorse. They are as
one stunned, staggering, sinking into the dust. They can see nothing
clearly. The mind is beclouded, they know not what steps to take.
Many a poor soul is misunderstood, unappreciated, full of distress
and agony—a lost, straying sheep. The soul cannot find God, yet
has an intense longing for pardon and peace.
Utter no word to cause deeper pain! To souls weary of sin but
not knowing where to find relief, present the compassionate Savior.
Take them by the hand, lift them up, speak to them words of courage
and hope. Help them to grasp the hand of the Savior.
We become too easily discouraged over people who do not at
once respond to our efforts. Never should we cease to work for
a soul while there is one gleam of hope. Precious souls cost our
self-sacrificing Redeemer too dear a price to be lightly given up to
the tempter’s power.
We need to put ourselves in the place of the tempted ones. Con-
sider the power of heredity, the influence of evil associations and
surroundings, the power of wrong habits. Can we wonder that under
such influences many become degraded? Can we wonder that they
should be slow to respond to efforts for their uplifting?
Often, when won to the gospel, those who appeared coarse and
unpromising will be among its most loyal adherents and advocates.
They are not altogether corrupt. Beneath the rough, forbidding ex-
terior are good impulses that might be reached. Without a helping
hand many would never recover themselves, but by patient, per-
sistent effort they may be uplifted. Such need tender words, kind
consideration, tangible help. They need the kind of counsel that will
not extinguish the faint gleam of courage in the soul. Workers who
come in contact with them should consider this.
Some will be found whose minds have been so long debased
that they will never in this life become what they might have been
under more favorable circumstances. But the bright beams of the
Sun of Righteousness may shine into the soul. It is their privilege
to have the life that measures with the life of God. Plant in their
minds uplifting, ennobling thoughts. Let your life make plain to
them the difference between vice and purity, darkness and light. In
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your example let them read what it means to be a Christian. Christ