“The year… is fast passing into eternity, and what record have the angels made of it? Have you, dear readers of the Instructor, kept in your diary a faithful account of your neglect of duties? Have you made a record of your mistakes and errors? Have you recorded the victories gained over the inclination to gratify self? You may have traced your disappointments and trials; you may have been convicted of your impatience and fretfulness; you may, too, have recorded your successes in resisting temptation, in conquering some habits and practises that were deforming your character; but there are blank pages that ought to have been filled in counting up the favors and blessings you have received, and in returning the thanks that are due to your Heavenly Father. You have no time to stop and enumerate your difficulties. Jesus Christ is your attendant through every rough passage; therefore devote your mind and your time to reckoning up your mercies.
“Have you looked upon God’s created works as prepared by His hand to minister to the happiness of man? Out of His own fulness, God has ministered to you in providing you with food and clothing and with educational advantages. He has blessed you with a home, with kind friends, with father and mother to help you with their sympathy and kindness; He has given you all the blessings of life.” –The Youth’s Instructor, August 19, 1897
“Every time you are called upon to meet temptation, it is your duty to obtain a victory through the grace of Christ; and when you endure temptation in the strength of Christ, you are a conqueror. Cease worrying, and begin to count up your blessings and privileges. Your temper will be tried. Your patience will be tested. Prayer alone, and earnest faith, will bring you through these things like a Christian. We are in the school of Christ. We are to be disciplined and trained, until our characters shall become Christlike. We are to grow daily in spiritual loveliness. We shall fail often in our efforts to copy the divine Pattern. We shall often have to bow down to weep at the feet of Jesus, because of our short-comings and mistakes; but we are not to be discouraged. Pray more fervently. Believe more fully, and try again with more steadfastness to grow into the likeness of your Lord. As we distrust our own power, we shall trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise God who is the health of our countenance.
“The enemy of our souls is constantly seeking to urge upon us his temptations. He would have us weave self into all that we do. It is his delight, to have us demerit others, and find fault with the brethren. May God help us to bring the love of Jesus into our religion. We shall have help, when we feel our weakness, and when we ask God for His strength. He has invited us to come to Him with all our burdens, and to cast our care upon Him who cares for us. Will we obey this gracious invitation? Will we lay our burdens down at the feet of our compassionate Lord? Many act as though they had been to Jesus, and that He had refused to help them. In this you dishonor your Saviour. If, after you pray to the Lord concerning your anxieties, you gather up the old troubles, and go forth fretting and complaining, you do not glorify the God you profess to serve.” –The Review and Herald, August 7, 1888
Amen.
By Ellen G. White