Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 - A New You Ministry

to children who are of the same faith. These seldom possess as much devotion to thecause as they should, and they have not been schooled in adversity and affliction soas to place a high estimate upon the eternal treasure and less upon the earthly. Themeans placed in the hands of such is the greatest evil. It is a temptation to them toplace their affections upon the earthly and trust to property and feel that they need butlittle besides. When means which they have not acquired by their own exertion comesinto their possession, they seldom use it wisely.The husband who transfers his property to his wife opens for her a wide door oftemptation, whether she is a believer or an unbeliever. If she is a believer and naturallypenurious, inclined to selfishness and acquisitiveness, the battle will be much harderfor her with her husband’s stewardship and her own to manage. In order to be saved,she must overcome all these peculiar, evil traits and imitate the character of her divineLord, seeking opportunity to do others good, loving others as Christ has loved us. Sheshould cultivate the precious gift of love possessed so largely by our Saviour. His lifewas characterized by noble, disinterested benevolence. His whole life was not marredby one selfish act.Whatever the motives of the husband, he has placed a terrible stumbling block inhis wife’s way to hinder her in the work of overcoming. And if the transfer be made tothe children, the same evil results may follow. God reads his motives. If he is selfishand has made the transfer to conceal his covetousness and excuse himself from doinganything to advance the cause, the curse of Heaven will surely follow. God readsthe purposes and intents of the heart, and tries the motives of the children of men.His signal, visible displeasure may not be manifested as in the case of Ananias andSapphira, yet in the end the punishment will in no case be lighter than that which wasinflicted upon them. In trying to deceive529