January 25
“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Prov. 16:7.
“Men judge from the outward appearance, and think they discern the true
measurement of a man’s character; but they make many blunders in their
judgments. They put a high estimate upon a man whose appearance is as an angel of light, when in thought and heart he is corrupt and unworthy. On another whose appearance is not so favorable, they pass criticism, make him an offender for a word, and would separate him from the church because of his supposed defective character, when it may be that He who reads the heart, sees true moral worth in the man. Human judgment does not decide any case; for the Lord’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways. He whom we would separate from the church as altogether unworthy, is the object of the Lord’s solicitude and love….
We must not be like the Pharisees of old, and must not judge others by our prescribed human standards. We are not to mount the judgment seat and not to encroach upon another’s conscience, not to judge another in matters that lay between the soul and God. All we are called to do is to teach and practice the Truth for today, to let the people make up their own minds for or against it…. We have no right to enforce our opinions and our views upon others. Just because others do not come up to our expectations and ideals, is by no means good reason to condemn them in order to help them. Far from it.
Let us then do the things that the Lord has instructed us to do, and as such, our ways will please Him. And He will then quickly make our enemies to be at peace with us.
From this we see that our need is to pray for Christ to abide in us, so that instead of watching for opportunities to accuse or to condemn others, and to expose their errors, we shall seek every occasion to help them, to bless them, to save them. We should pray for a deep realization of our own sins; pray that the spirit of criticism and self-exaltation be forever banished from us. Then we shall not feel free to mount the judgment seat and accuse anyone.
“And ever remember that if the Truth Itself cannot persuade the sinner to repent, force and human effort will do less good and much harm. Our time is too short and our work too great to engage in matters that are foreign to our duty. We cannot afford to waste our strength picking flaws in others. Let us get ready for the kingdom, for there is a church and a world to save, and God is anxious that we get down to business and very quickly if we are to be among the admired… of tomorrow and live in perfect peace under everlasting security.
SOURCE REFERENCES
RH, January 3, 1893 par. 4, 1TG No. 26:14, 1TG No. 22: 31