The Lord has made provision that all may be reached by the message of truth, but the means placed in the hands of His stewards for this very purpose has been selfishly devoted to their own gratification.
(CS 290.1)
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VC
How much has been thoughtlessly wasted by our youth, spent for self-indulgence and display, for that which they would have been just as happy without. Every dollar which we possess is the Lord’s. Instead of spending means for needless things, we should invest it in answering the calls of missionary work.
(CS 290.2)
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VC
As new fields are opened, the calls for means are constantly increasing. If ever we needed to exercise economy, it is now. All who labor in the cause should realize the importance of closely following the Saviour’s example of self-denial and economy. They should see in the means that they handle a trust which God has committed to them, and they should feel under obligation to exercise tact and financial ability in the use of their Lord’s money. Every penny should be carefully treasured. A cent seems like a trifle, but a hundred cents make a dollar, and rightly spent may be the means of saving a soul from death. If all the means which has been wasted by our own people in self-gratification had been devoted to the cause of God, there would be no empty treasuries, and missions could be established in all parts of the world.
(CS 290.3)
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VC
There should be no extravagance in building fine homes, in buying costly furniture, in indulging in worldly dress, or in providing luxurious food; but in everything let us think of the souls for whom Christ has died. Let selfishness and pride die. Let none continue to expend means to multiply pictures to be sent to their friends. Let us save every dollar that can be saved, that the matchless charms of Christ may be presented before the souls of the perishing.
(CS 298.1)
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VC
Satan will suggest many ways in which you may expend money. But if it is spent for self-gratification,—for unnecessary things, no matter how trifling their cost,—it is not spent for the glory of God. Let us look well to this matter, and see if we are denying ourselves as we should. Are we making sacrifices, that we may send the light of truth to the lost? ...
(CS 298.2)
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VC
There should be but one interest in the church; one desire should control all, and that is the desire to conform to the image of Christ. Each one should strive to do for Jesus all that it is possible for him to do, by personal effort, by gifts, by sacrifices. There should be meat in the house of the Lord, and that means a full treasury, that responses may be made to Macedonian cries coming from every land. How pitiful it is that we are obliged to say to these who cry for help, “We cannot send you men or money. We have an empty treasury.”
(CS 298.3)
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VC
Let all the pennies, dimes, and dollars that are lost to the cause through selfish love of pleasure, through desire to meet the world’s standard, through love of ease, be turned into the channel that flows to God’s treasury. It is the rills flowing into one that finally make the river. Let us be conscientious Christians, be laborers together with God....
(CS 298.4)
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VC