Christian Service

Encouragement to Beginners in Christian Service

The most successful toilers are those who cheerfully take up the work of serving God in little things. Every human being is to work with his life-thread, weaving it into the fabric to help complete the pattern.—Testimonies for the Church 6:115. ChS 99.1

We are to make our everyday duties acts of devotion, constantly increasing in usefulness, because we see our work in the light of eternity.—Testimonies for the Church 9:150. ChS 99.2

The Lord has a place for every one in His great plan. Talents that are not needed are not bestowed.—Testimonies for the Church 9:37. ChS 99.3

Each has his place in the eternal plan of heaven. Each is to work in co-operation with Christ for the salvation of souls. Not more surely is the place prepared for us in the heavenly mansions than is the special place designated on earth where we are to work for God.—Christ's Object Lessons, 326, 327. ChS 99.4

The Lord has His eye upon every one of His people; He has His plans concerning each.—Testimonies for the Church 6:12. ChS 99.5

All can do something in the work. None will be pronounced guiltless before God unless they have worked earnestly and unselfishly for the salvation of souls.—Testimonies for the Church 5:395. ChS 100.1

Your duty cannot be shifted upon another. No one but yourself can do your work. If you withhold your light, someone must be left in darkness through your neglect.—Testimonies for the Church 5:464. ChS 100.2

The humble worker who obediently responds to the call of God may be sure of receiving divine assistance. To accept so great and holy a responsibility is itself elevating to the character. It calls into action the highest mental and spiritual powers, and strengthens and purifies the mind and heart. Through faith in the power of God, it is wonderful how strong a weak man may become, how decided his efforts, how prolific of great results. He who begins with a little knowledge, in a humble way, and tells what he knows, while seeking diligently for further knowledge, will find the whole heavenly treasure awaiting his demand. The more he seeks to impart light, the more light he will receive. The more one tries to explain the Word of God to others, with a love for souls, the plainer it becomes to himself. The more we use our knowledge and exercise our powers, the more knowledge and power we shall have.—Christ's Object Lessons, 354. ChS 100.3

Let every one labor for God and for souls; let each show wisdom, and never be found in idleness, waiting for some one to set him to work. The “some one” who could set you to work is overcrowded with responsibilities, and time is lost in waiting for his directions. God will give you wisdom in reforming at once; for the call is still made, “Son, go work today in My vineyard.” “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Hebrews 3:7, 8. The Lord prefaces the requirement with the endearing word “son.” How tender, how compassionate, yet withal, how urgent! His invitation is also a command.—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 419. ChS 100.4

Strength to resist evil is best gained by aggressive service.—The Acts of the Apostles, 105. ChS 100.5

Every act, every deed of justice and mercy and benevolence, makes music in heaven.—The Review and Herald, August 16, 1881. ChS 100.6

The spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour.—The Great Controversy, 70. ChS 101.1

The only way to grow in grace is to be interestedly doing the very work Christ has enjoined upon us to do.—The Review and Herald, June 7, 1887. ChS 101.2

You are not to wait for great occasions or to expect extraordinary abilities before you go to work for God.—Steps to Christ, 83. ChS 101.3

The man who blesses society, and makes a success of life, is the one who, whether educated or uneducated, uses all his powers in the service of God and his fellow men.—The Southern Watchman, April 2, 1903. ChS 101.4

Many whom God has qualified to do excellent work accomplish very little, because they attempt little.—Christ's Object Lessons, 331. ChS 101.5

If you fail ninety-nine times in a hundred, but succeed in saving the one soul from ruin, you have done a noble deed for the Master's cause.—Testimonies for the Church 4:132. ChS 101.6

The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.—Steps to Christ, 100. ChS 101.7

The Lord sees and understands, and He will use you, despite your weakness, if you offer your talent as a consecrated gift to His service; for in active, disinterested service the weak become strong and enjoy His precious commendation. The joy of the Lord is an element of strength. If you are faithful, the peace that passeth all understanding will be your reward in this life, and in the future life you will enter into the joy of your Lord.—Testimonies for the Church 8:34. ChS 101.8

Persons of little talent, if faithful in keeping their hearts in the love of God, may win many souls to Christ. Harlan Page was a poor mechanic of ordinary ability and limited education; but he made it his chief business to seek to advance the cause of God, and his efforts were crowned with marked success. He labored for the salvation of his fellow men in private conversation and in earnest prayer. He established prayer meetings, organized Sunday schools, and distributed tracts and other religious reading. And on his deathbed, with the shadow of eternity resting upon his countenance, he was able to say, “I know that it is all of God's grace, and not through any merit of anything that I have done; but I think I have evidence that more than one hundred souls have been converted to God through my personal instrumentality.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:307, 308. ChS 101.9

This world is not the Christian's heaven, but merely the workshop of God, where we are to be fitted up to unite with sinless angels in a holy heaven.—Testimonies for the Church 2:187. ChS 102.1

The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others. They may not realize that they are doing any special good, but by their unconscious influence they may start waves of blessing that will widen and deepen, and the blessed results they may never know until the day of final reward. They do not feel or know that they are doing anything great. They are not required to weary themselves with anxiety about success. They have only to go forward quietly, doing faithfully the work that God's providence assigns, and their life will not be in vain. Their own souls will be growing more and more into the likeness of Christ; they are workers together with God in this life, and are thus fitting for the higher work and the unshadowed joy of the life to come.—Steps to Christ, 83. ChS 102.2

There are many who have given themselves to Christ, yet who see no opportunity of doing a large work or making great sacrifices in His service. These may find comfort in the thought that it is not necessarily the martyr's self-surrender which is most acceptable to God; it may not be the missionary who has daily faced danger and death, that stands highest in heaven's records. The Christian who is such in his private life, in the daily surrender of self, in sincerity of purpose and purity of thought, in meekness under provocation, in faith and piety, in fidelity in that which is least, the one who in the home life represents the character of Christ,—such a one may in the sight of God be more precious than even the world-renowned missionary or martyr.—Christ's Object Lessons, 403. ChS 102.3

Not the amount of labor performed, or its visible results, but the spirit in which the work is done, makes it of value with God.—Christ's Object Lessons, 397. ChS 103.1

The approval of the Master is not given because of the greatness of the work performed, because many things have been gained, but because of the fidelity in even a few things. It is not the great results we attain, but the motives from which we act, that weigh with God. He prizes goodness and faithfulness more than the greatness of the work accomplished.—Testimonies for the Church 2:510, 511. ChS 103.2

Do not pass by the little things, and look for a large work. You might do successfully the small work, but fail utterly in attempting a large work, and fall into discouragement. Take hold wherever you see that there is work to be done. Whether you are rich or poor, great or humble, God calls you into active service for Him. It will be by doing with your might what your hands find to do that you will develop talent and aptitude for the work. And it is by neglecting your daily opportunities that you become fruitless and withered. This is why there are so many fruitless trees in the garden of the Lord.—Testimonies for the Church 9:129. ChS 103.3

The Lord desires us to use every gift we have; and if we do this, we shall have greater gifts to use. He does not supernaturally endow us with the qualifications we lack; but while we use that which we have, He will work with us to increase and strengthen every faculty. By every wholehearted, earnest sacrifice for the Master's service, our powers will increase.—Christ's Object Lessons, 353, 354. ChS 103.4

Christ's heart is cheered by the sight of those who are poor in every sense of the term; cheered by His view of the ill-used ones who are meek; cheered by the seemingly unsatisfied hungering after righteousness, by the inability of many to begin. He welcomes, as it were, the very condition of things that would discourage many ministers.—Gospel Workers, 37. ChS 103.5

We need not go to heathen lands, or even leave the narrow circle of the home, if it is there that our duty lies, in order to work for Christ. We can do this in the home circle, in the church, among those with whom we associate, and with whom we do business.—Steps to Christ, 81. ChS 103.6

If we are making the life and teachings of Christ our study, every passing event will furnish a text for an impressive discourse.—Testimonies for the Church 9:63. ChS 104.1

The life on earth is the beginning of the life in heaven; education on earth is an initiation into the principles of heaven; the life-work here is a training for the life-work there. What we now are, in character and holy service, is the sure foreshadowing of what we shall be.—Education, 307. ChS 104.2

Those who reject the privilege of fellowship with Christ in service, reject the only training that imparts a fitness for participation with Him in His glory. They reject the training that in this life gives strength and nobility of character.—Education, 264. ChS 104.3

Let none suppose that they can live a life of selfishness, and then, having served their own interests, enter into the joy of their Lord. In the joy of unselfish love they could not participate. They would not be fitted for the heavenly courts. They could not appreciate the pure atmosphere of love that pervades heaven. The voices of the angels and the music of their harps would not satisfy them. To their minds the science of heaven would be as an enigma.—Christ's Object Lessons, 364, 365. ChS 104.4

Christ calls upon us to labor patiently and perseveringly for the thousands perishing in their sins, scattered in all lands, like wrecks on a desert shore. Those who share in Christ's glory must share also in His ministry, helping the weak, the wretched, and the despondent.—Testimonies for the Church 9:31. ChS 104.5

The common people are to take their place as workers. Sharing the sorrows of their fellow men as the Saviour shared the sorrows of humanity, they will by faith see Him working with them.—Testimonies for the Church 7:272. ChS 104.6

Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple. Every one God has predestinated to be “conformed to the image of His Son.” In every one Christ's long-suffering love, His holiness, meekness, mercy, and truth, are to be manifested to the world.—The Desire of Ages, 827. ChS 104.7

The call to place all on the altar of service comes to each one. We are not all asked to serve as Elisha served, nor are we all bidden to sell everything we have; but God asks us to give His service the first place in our lives, to allow no day to pass without doing something to advance His work in the earth. He does not expect from all the same kind of service. One may be called to ministry in a foreign land; another may be asked to give of his means for the support of gospel work. God accepts the offering of each. It is the consecration of the life and all its interests, that is necessary. Those who make this consecration, will hear and obey the call of Heaven.—Prophets and Kings, 221. ChS 105.1

The worldly wise man, who meditates and plans, and whose business is ever in his mind, should seek to become wise in matters of eternal interest. If he would put forth as much energy to secure the heavenly treasure and the life which measures with the life of God as he does to secure worldly gain, what could he not accomplish?—Testimonies for the Church 6:297. ChS 105.2

God will move upon men in humble positions to declare the message of present truth. Many such will be seen hastening hither and thither, constrained by the Spirit of God to give the light to those in darkness. The truth is as a fire in their bones, filling them with a burning desire to enlighten those who sit in darkness. Many, even among the uneducated, will proclaim the word of the Lord. Children will be impelled by the Holy Spirit to go forth to declare the message of heaven. The Spirit will be poured out upon those who yield to His promptings. Casting off man's binding rules and cautious movements, they will join the army of the Lord.—Testimonies for the Church 7:26, 27. ChS 105.3