Friday, 12 August 2011 08:49
Written by Keir Tayler
Purity. It is not enough to have at one time obtained the blessed experience of heart purity. I must meet the Lord frequently and feel His purity surging through my being. This implies not only purity of heart, but purity in thought and deed. When I leave a person or a home, I must leave it as pure as I found it, in better shape if possible. In short, I must be clean in spirit, person and in contact with others – a good representative of Jesus.
Humility. "Dear Lord, let me be truly humble; so humble that I will reflect Your humility, so humble I will not be conscious that I am humble, and yet others will be reproved and inspired as they see Your gentleness in me." As Andrew Murray would say, "Let me have perfect quietness of heart. Let me never be worried, irritated, angry or disappointed. I pray that I will expect nothing and wonder at nothing that is done to me. I pray that I will feel no resentment at anything done against me, feel at rest when nobody praises me and when I am blamed or despised. I ask to have a blessed home in the Lord where I can go, shut the door, and talk to my Father in secret. I ask for a place where I can be at peace as in a deep sea of calmness when all around and above is trouble."
Charity. By charity I mean that I want to be so magnanimous that I will assume the best about the deeds of others. Please keep me from a critical spirit so that the reputation of others will be safe in my hands. Lord, do not let me find it easy when preaching, or in conversation, to go out of my way and cast a bad shadow on another when he is not able to explain. Let me practice the golden rule and "do unto others as I would have them do unto me."
Chastity. I want to be so chased that anything which savors of coarseness or suggestiveness, will have no place in me. I must not shock the most refined person with anything that borders on looseness or rudeness. Let me never use language or gestures in the pulpit, which could cheapen the Gospel of the Son of God.
Brevity. Let me know when and how to stop. I fear that I sometimes preach people under conviction, then preach them out again. It is better to not finish my sermon and have a fruitful appeal, than preach 10minutes too long and lose one seeker. More than once I have started in the spirit, and, I fear, end it in the flesh. In other words, I reach climax and fail to quickly draw the net. Some of the fish escape. What a pity!
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