Character

The Purity of Gold – Amy Carmichael

The goldsmith never leaves his crucible once it has entered the fire. He periodically lifts out the gold, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back … This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold back into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased, “It could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now.” “How do you know when the gold is purified?” we asked, and he answered, “When I can see my face in it, then it is pure.”

– Amy Carmichael –
from Gold Cord

A Test of Christian Character – Lester Roloff

A test of a Christian’s character is what he does after he comes to the blockade in the road and what his attitude is after everything has left him except Jesus. You will never know down here that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have left. You will never be able to tell the world for sure that He will do in a crisis unless you learn how to live in a crisis.

– Lester Roloff –

How We Are Called to Speak – Oswald Chambers

When Paul mentions the matter of conversation, he says, “See that your speech is edifying”— good building-up stuff, not sanctimonious talk, but real solid stuff that makes people stronger in the Word of God, stronger in character, stronger in practical life.

– Oswald Chambers –

Walking Through Difficulty, Obscurity, and Suffering – FB Meyer

We all need to go to Arabia to learn lessons like these. The Lord Himself was led up into the wilderness. And in one form or another, every soul who has done a great work in the world has passed through similar periods of obscurity, suffering, disappointment or solitude.

– FB Meyer –
1847-1929

Don’t Be Laughed Out of Your Religion – Thomas Watson

Better have men reproach you for being good, than have God damn you for being wicked. Be not laughed out of your religion. If a lame man laugh at you for walking upright, will you therefore limp?

– Thomas Watson – 
from The Great Gain of Godliness, 1682