“Let your moderation be known unto all men” (Phil. iv. 5).
The very test of consecration is our willingness not only to surrender the
things that are wrong, but to surrender our rights, to be willing to be
subject. When God begins to subdue a soul, He often requires us to yield
the things that are of little importance in themselves, and thus break our
neck and subdue our spirit.
No Christian worker can ever be used of God until the proud self-will is
broken, and the heart is ready to yield to God’s every touch, no matter
through whom it may come.
Many people want God to lead them in their way and they will brook no
authority or restraint. They will give their money, but they want to
dictate how it shall be spent. They will work as long as you let them
please themselves, but let any pressure come and you immediately run up
against, not the grace of resignation, but a letter of resignation,
withdrawing from some important trust, and arousing a whole community of
criticising friends, equally disposed to have their own opinions and their
own will about it. It is destructive of all real power.