Chapter 5—A Powerful Christian Witness
Best Missionaries Come From Christian Homes—Missionaries
for the Master are best prepared for work abroad in the Christian
household, where God is feared, where God is loved, where God
is worshiped, where faithfulness has become second nature, where
haphazard, careless inattention to home duties is not permitted, where
quiet communion with God is looked upon as essential to the faithful
performance of daily duties
Home duties should be performed with the consciousness that if
they are done in the right spirit, they give an experience that will enable
us to work for Christ in the most permanent and thorough manner. Oh,
what might not a living Christian do in missionary lines by performing
faithfully the daily duties, cheerfully lifting the cross, not neglecting
any work, however disagreeable to the natural feelings
Our work for Christ is to begin with the family, in the home....
There is no missionary field more important than this....
By many this home field has been shamefully neglected, and it is
time that divine resources and remedies were presented, that this state
of evil may be corrected
The highest duty that devolves upon youth is in their own homes,
blessing father and mother, brothers and sisters, by affection and true
interest. Here they can show self-denial and self-forgetfulness in
caring and doing for others.... What an influence a sister may have
over brothers! If she is right, she may determine the character of her
brothers. Her prayers, her gentleness, and her affection may do much
in a household
[36]
In the home those who have received Christ are to show what grace
has done for them. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” A
1
Manuscript 140, 1897
.
2
The Signs of the Times, September 1, 1898
.
3
Testimonies For The Church 6: 429, 430
.
3
Testimonies For The Church 3:80, 81
.
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