56
Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce
Walter is not perfect in character. He has some objectionable
characteristics. He has been entrusted with means, and he does not
always put it to the very best account. Sometimes he is very lavish
of his money, and sometimes very narrow in its use, and severely
economical. But a good God-fearing woman at his side will be able
to advise him not to move impulsively, and counsel him to place his
money in the treasury of the Lord.
Walter is in a responsible position, but if the members of the family
to which he has allied himself in marriage will prove true to him, they
will influence him to become a wise steward of his Lord’s goods. Then
he will bestow his means as if in the view of the whole universe of
heaven. He will not participate in any unlawful scheme for making
money but will move with an eye single to the glory of God. He will
eschew all petty tricks and avoid all mean, dishonest devices, and will
do nothing that will [in] any way work against the cultivation of true
piety. He will realize that all his business transactions lie within the
domain of God.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the steward is to trade with
his Lord’s goods, and that he is handling a sacred responsibility. The
Bible requires that men buy and sell and transact all their business
with as keen a sense of their religious obligation as they have when
offering up petitions to their heavenly Father, asking for strength and
grace. The Lord has not left anyone to do as he pleases with his goods,
and to give as impulse shall dictate, or as friends may demand. The
money he handles is not his, and is not to be expended unnecessarily,
for the vineyard of the Lord is to be worked, and its working requires
the expenditure of means.
[71]
Now is our day of trust, and the day of reckoning is yet to come.
The Lord has entrusted means to His stewards to be used wisely, for all
are moral agents and are required to bear responsibilities. Our varied
trusts are given in proportion to our ability to use, but we are not to
use God’s means merely for the gratification of selfish desires, and as
inclination may dictate.
Walter C has failed at times in the past in handling his Lord’s
goods, and has not always considered whether he was using the money
entrusted to him in a way that would please his Master and advance
the cause of truth. He must give an account of how he disposes of
the means given in trust to him. He cannot study his own will in