Chapter Ten—Kindness the Key to Hearts
Many Reached Only by Love and Kindness.—Those who engage in house-to-house labor will
find opportunities for ministry in many lines. They should pray for the sick and should do all in their
power to relieve them from suffering. They should work among the lowly, the poor, and the oppressed.
We should pray for and with the helpless ones who have not strength of will to control the appetites
that passion has degraded. Earnest, persevering effort must be made for the salvation of those in whose
hearts an interest is awakened. Many can be reached only through acts of disinterested kindness. Their
physical wants must first be relieved. As they see evidence of our unselfish love, it will be easier for
them to believe in the love of Christ.
Missionary nurses are best qualified for this work, but others should be connected with them. These,
although not specially educated and trained in nursing, can learn from their fellow workers the best
manner of labor.
Talk, Pharisaism, and self-praise are abundant; but these will never win souls to Christ. Pure,
sanctified love, such love as was expressed in Christ’s lifework, is as a sacred perfume. Like Mary’s
broken box of ointment, it fills the whole house with fragrance. Eloquence, knowledge of truth, rare
talents, mingled with love, are all precious endowments. But ability alone, the choicest talents alone,
cannot take the place of love.—Testimonies for the Church 6:83, 84.
With Love Which Springs From the Heart.—Love is the basis of godliness. Whatever the
profession, no
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man has pure love to God unless he has unselfish love for his brother. But we can never come into
possession of this spirit by trying to love others. What is needed is the love of Christ in the heart. When
self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously. The completeness of Christian character is
attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within—when the sunshine
of heaven fills the heart and is revealed in the countenance.
It is not possible for the heart in which Christ abides to be destitute of love. If we love God because
He first loved us, we shall love all for whom Christ died. We cannot come in touch with divinity
without coming in touch with humanity; for in Him who sits upon the throne of the universe, divinity
and humanity are combined. Connected with Christ, we are connected with our fellow men by the
golden links of the chain of love. Then the pity and compassion of Christ will be manifest in our life.
We shall not wait to have the needy and unfortunate brought to us. We shall not need to be entreated to
feel for the woes of others. It will be as natural for us to minister to the needy and suffering as it was
for Christ to go about doing good.
Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, wherever the heart reaches out to bless and
uplift others, there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 384, 385.
Christ’s Love and Sympathy Drew the People.—It was the outcast, the publican and sinner, the
despised of the nations, that Christ called, and by His loving-kindness compelled to come unto Him.
The one class that He would never countenance was those who stood apart in their self-esteem, and
looked down upon others.—The Ministry of Healing, 164.
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To Love as Christ Loved.—The love that is inspired by the love we have for Jesus will see in
every soul, rich and poor, a value that cannot be measured by human estimate. The world sinks into
insignificance in comparison with the value of one soul. The love of God revealed for man is beyond
any human computation. It is infinite. And the human agent who is a partaker of the divine nature will
love as Christ loves, will work as Christ worked. There will be an inborn compassion and sympathy
which will not fail or be discouraged. This is the spirit that should be encouraged to live in every
heart and be revealed in every life. This love can only exist and be kept refined, holy, pure, and elevated
through the love in the soul for Jesus Christ, nourished by daily communion with God. All this coldness
on the part of Christians is a denial of the faith. But this spirit will melt away before the bright beams
of Christ’s love in the follower of Christ. Willingly, naturally, he will obey the injunction, “Love one
another as I have loved you.”—Manuscript 60, 1897.
Pray for Sympathetic Hearts.—As surely as we believe in Christ and do His will, not exalting self,
but walking in all humility of mind, so surely will the Lord be with us.... Pray that He will give you
a heart of flesh, a heart that can feel the sorrows of others, that can be touched with human woe. Pray
that He will give you a heart that will not permit you to turn a deaf ear to the widow or the fatherless.
Pray that you may have bowels of mercy for the poor, the infirm, and the oppressed. Pray that you may
love justice and hate robbery, and make no difference in the bestowal of your favors, except to consider
the cases of the needy and the unfortunate. Then the
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promises recorded in Isaiah 58 will be fulfilled to you.—Letter 24, 1889.
Speaking a Word of Courage.—Never, never become heartless, cold, unsympathetic, and
censorious. Never lose an opportunity to say a word to encourage and inspire hope.—Testimonies
for the Church 5:613.
In working for the victims of evil habits, instead of pointing them to the despair and ruin toward
which they are hastening, turn their eyes to Jesus. Fix them upon the glories of the heavenly. This
will do more for the saving of body and soul than will all the terrors of the grave when kept before the
helpless and apparently hopeless.—The Ministry of Healing, 62.
No One Reclaimed by Reproach.—It is always humiliating to have one’s errors pointed out. None
should make the experience more bitter by needless censure. No one was ever reclaimed by reproach;
but many have thus been repelled, and have been led to steel their hearts against conviction. A tender
spirit, a gentle, winning deportment may save the erring and hide a multitude of sins.—The Ministry of
Healing, 166.
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Encourage a Love of Hospitality.—As you regard your eternal interest, arouse yourselves, and
begin to sow good seed. That which ye sow shall ye also reap. The harvest is coming—the great
reaping time, when we shall reap what we have sown. There will be no failure in the crop. The harvest
is sure. Now is the sowing time. Now make efforts to be rich in good works, “ready to distribute,
willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come,
that they may lay hold on eternal life.” I implore you, my brethren, in every place, r
