Kindness the Key to Hearts
57
so surely will the Lord be with us.... Pray that He will give you a
heart of flesh, a heart that can feel the sorrows of others, that can be
touched with human woe. Pray that He will give you a heart that will
not permit you to turn a deaf ear to the widow or the fatherless. Pray
that you may have bowels of mercy for the poor, the infirm, and the
oppressed. Pray that you may love justice and hate robbery, and make
no difference in the bestowal of your favors, except to consider the
cases of the needy and the unfortunate. Then the promises recorded in
[84]
Isaiah 58
will be fulfilled to you.—
Letter 24, 1889
.
Speaking a Word of Courage—Never, never become heartless,
cold, unsympathetic, and censorious. Never lose an opportunity to say
a word to encourage and inspire hope.—
Testimonies for the Church
5:613
.
In working for the victims of evil habits, instead of pointing them
to the despair and ruin toward which they are hastening, turn their eyes
to Jesus. Fix them upon the glories of the heavenly. This will do more
for the saving of body and soul than will all the terrors of the grave
when kept before the helpless and apparently hopeless.—
The Ministry
of Healing, 62
.
No One Reclaimed by Reproach—It is always humiliating to
have one’s errors pointed out. None should make the experience more
bitter by needless censure. No one was ever reclaimed by reproach; but
many have thus been repelled, and have been led to steel their hearts
against conviction. A tender spirit, a gentle, winning deportment may
save the erring and hide a multitude of sins.—
The Ministry of Healing,
166
.
Encourage a Love of Hospitality—As you regard your eternal
interest, arouse yourselves, and begin to sow good seed. That which
ye sow shall ye also reap. The harvest is coming—the great reaping
time, when we shall reap what we have sown. There will be no failure
in the crop. The harvest is sure. Now is the sowing time. Now
make efforts to be rich in good works, “ready to distribute, willing
to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” I
implore you, my brethren, in every place, rid yourselves of your icy
coldness. Encourage in yourselves a love of hospitality, a love to help
[85]
those who need help.—
The Review and Herald, April 20, 1886
.