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184
Medical Ministry
who act a part in them are not to feel that they are prepared for
graduation, that they know all they need to know. They are to
study diligently and practice carefully the lessons Christ has given.—
Manuscript 76, 1902.
Move Carefully
There are men who do not move wisely. They are anxious to
make a large appearance. They think that outward display will give
them influence. In their work, they do not first sit down and count
the cost, to see whether they are able to finish what they have begun.
Thus they show their weakness. They show that they have much to
learn in regard to the necessity of moving carefully and guardedly.
In their self-confidence they make many mistakes. Thus some have
received harm from which they will never recover. This has been the
case with several who have felt competent to establish and conduct
sanitariums. Failure comes to them, and ... they find themselves
involved in debt....
[157]
Contentment with Slow Growth
Men who might have done well if they had consecrated them-
selves to God, if they had been willing to work in a humble way,
enlarging their business slowly and refusing to go into debt, have
made a failure because they have not worked on right lines. And
after getting into difficulty they have sold out as men incompetent
to manage. They desired relief from financial pressure, and did not
stop to think of the after results.
Those who help such ones out of difficulty are tempted to bind
them with such strong cords in the shape of pledges that ever after
they feel they are bondslaves. They seldom outgrow the reputation
of poor management and failure.
To those who thus become involved in debt, I am instructed to
say: Do not give up if you are moving in right lines. Work with
all your power to relieve the situation yourselves. Do not throw an
embarrassed institution upon an association that is already heavily
burdened with debt. It is best for every sanitarium to stand in its own
responsibility.