Building for Eternity, January 25

“That ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Colossians 4:12^L.

The Infinite One—He who alone was able to bring order and beauty out of the chaos and confusion of nature’s darkness—is able to subdue the rebellious heart of man and bring his life into conformity to the divine will. His Spirit can quell man’s rebellious temper....

Day by day we are building characters, and we are building for eternity. God desires us in our lives to give the people of the world an example of what they should be and of what they can be through obedience to the gospel of Christ. Let us place ourselves in God’s hands, to be dealt with as He sees best.... “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9^L). If we build in cooperation with Him, the structure that we rear will day by day grow more beautiful and more symmetrical under the hand of the Master Builder, and through all eternity it will endure.

Sanctification is a progressive work. It is a continuous work, leading human beings higher and still higher. It does not leave love behind, but brings it into the life as the very essence of Christianity.

Christ says to us, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48^L). He is our example. During His life on earth He was ever kind and gentle. His influence was ever fragrant, for in Him dwelt perfect love. He was never sour and unapproachable, and He never compromised with wrong to obtain favor. If we have His righteousness, we shall be like Him in gentleness, in forbearance, in unselfish love. Shall we not, by dwelling in the sunshine of His presence, become mellowed by His grace?

Let us honor our profession of faith. Let us adorn our lives with beautiful traits of character. Harshness of speech and action is not of Christ, but of Satan. Shall we, by clinging to our imperfections and deformities, make Christ ashamed of us? His grace is promised to us. If we will receive it, it will beautify our lives.... Deformity will be exchanged for goodness, perfection. Our lives will be adorned with the graces that made Christ’s life so beautiful.—The Review and Herald, January 14, 1904.