Character

The act of praying – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

 is the very highest energy of which the human mind is capable; praying, that is, with the total concentration of the faculties. The great mass of worldly men and of learned men are absolutely incapable of prayer

– Samuel Taylor Coleridge –

Godly Men Do Not Indulge in Sin – Thomas Watson

A godly man does not indulge sin. Though sin is in him, he is troubled at it and would gladly get rid of it. There is as much difference between sin in the wicked and sin in the godly—as between poison being in a serpent and poison being in a man. Poison in a serpent is in its natural place and is delightful—but poison in a man’s body is harmful and he uses antidotes to expel it. So sin in a wicked man is delightful, being in its natural place—but sin in a child of God is burdensome and he uses all means to expel it.

– Thomas Watson –
from The Godly Man’s Picture, 1666

Serious Soldier – William Gurnall

If you are a serious soldier, do not flirt with any of your desires that are beneath Christ and heaven. They will play the harlot and steal your heart.

– William Gurnall –

Entire Manhood and Womanhood to Christ – Charles Spurgeon

Oh, Christian men and women, you will not glorify God much unless you really put your strength into the ways of the Lord, and throw your body, soul, and spirit – your entire manhood and womanhood – into the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

– Charles Spurgeon –

The Point the Whole of Christianity Turns – William Wilberforce

This is the cardinal point on which the whole of Christianity turns. “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). The nature of that holiness which the true Christian seeks to possess is none other than the restoration of the image of God in his soul. Obtaining it depends entirely on the operation of God’s Holy Spirit.

The true Christian knows therefore that this holiness does not precede his reconciliation with God, and then be its cause. But he has to follow, and be its effect. In short, it is by faith in Christ alone, faith marked by repentance of sin.

– William Wilberforce –
from his book Real Christianity, 1797