No man or woman can be a follower of Christ and live for self....

It is the duty of the children of God to be all light in the Lord and scatter blessings upon the path of others. They are not to say, “Be ye warmed, and be ye fed,” and do nothing to relieve the necessities of those who are in want....

We are the Lord’s purchased possession, and as His human agents it is our positive duty to administer in temporal and spiritual things from the store which God has given us. Love must be kept in constant exercise to inspire faith in God, that praise may be called forth from human hearts to God and that the golden chain of love may bind the hearts of humanity together. Those who are recipients of the mercy, sympathy, and compassion of God should pass it along to others....

The Son of the infinite God is our Pattern. Heaven is full of mercy, and it is constantly outflowing not only to a favored few, but for the blessing of those who need it most, for the benefit of those who have the least pleasantness and happiness brought into their lives....

Those whom God has made stewards of capabilities and means, He commands, for their own interest, to lay up their treasure in heaven, and as He has given freely to them of His bountiful mercy, to give freely to others. Instead of living for themselves, Christ is to live in them, and His Holy Spirit is to lead them to dispense wisely their goods, being merciful to others even as He is merciful to all. No man or woman can be a follower of Christ and live for self....

In proportion as goods are entrusted they should be dispensed to others. The humblest men and women are to trade upon the Lord’s talents, realizing that what has been lent to them should be returned with usury to God. Though we have but one talent, if it be faithfully consecrated to God and employed in acts of mercy in temporal or spiritual things, we thus ministering to the wants of the needy, our talent will increase in value and be noted upon the heavenly record as exceeding our powers of computation. Every merciful action, every sacrifice, every self-denial, will bring a sure requital, a hundredfold in this time, and in the world to come everlasting life.—Signs of the Times, September 12, 1895. FH 190


If we will but listen, God’s created works will teach us precious lessons of obedience and trust. From the stars that in their trackless courses through space follow from age to age their appointed path, down to the minutest atom, the things of nature obey the Creator’s will. And God cares for everything and sustains everything that He has created. He who upholds the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, at the same time cares for the wants of the little brown sparrow that sings its humble song without fear. When men go forth to their daily toil, as when they engage in prayer; when they lie down at night, and when they rise in the morning; when the rich man feasts in his palace, or when the poor man gathers his children about the scanty board, each is tenderly watched by the heavenly Father. No tears are shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that He does not mark. SC 85



Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 (King James Version)