Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org

stewards, overseers, &c., do not take care, they will get their hearts
hardened with the frequent proofs they will have of deception, lying,
idleness, &c. And on this account it is that so many of those who have
been called to minister to the poor in parishes, workhouses, and religious
societies, when they come to relinquish their employment, find that many
of their moral feelings have been considerably blunted, and perhaps the
only reward they get for their services is the character of being hardhearted.
If whatever is done in this way be not done unto the Lord, it can
never be done with cheerfulness.
Works of charity and mercy should be done as much in private as is
consistent with the advancement of the glory of God, and the effectual
relief of the poor.
He whom God has employed in a work of mercy has need to return, by
prayer, as speedily to his Maker as he can, lest he should be tempted to
value himself on account of that in which he has no merit; for the good
that is done upon earth the Lord doeth it alone.
Love heightens the smallest actions, and gives a worth to them, which
they cannot possess without it.
Love never supposes that a good action may have a bad motive; gives
every man credit for his profession of religion, uprightness, godly zeal,
&c., while nothing is seen in his conduct or in his spirit inconsistent with
this profession.
Labour after a compassionate or sympathizing mind. Let your heart
feel for the distressed; enter into their sorrows, and bear a part of their
burdens. It is a fact, attested by universal experience, that by sympathy a
man may receive into his own affectionate feelings a measure of the
distress of his friend, and that his friend does find himself relieved in the
same proportion as the other has entered into his griefs. "But how do you
account for this?" I do not account for it at all: it depends upon certain