For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16.
There is a power for good in intellect, if it is conformed to the mind of Christ, sanctified and controlled by the Spirit of God. But intellect alone cannot give a fitness for heaven, or enable us to reach the divine standard. In order for a man to be what God desires him to be, he must have a pure, noble character. The right that one has to claim that he is a man is determined by the use that he makes of his intellect. Before man can be acknowledged as a laborer together with God, he must get out of and away from the self-confidence that claims much and gives little...
Human beings have no right to think that there is a limit to the efforts that they are to make to represent the goodness and love of God in the work of saving souls. Did Christ ever become weary in His work of soul-saving? Did He ever draw back from self-denial and sacrifice? When church members bring into their lives the self-denial that Christ brought into His life, when they put forth the continuous, persevering efforts that He put forth, they will have no time and no inclination to weave into their experience the false threads that would spoil the pattern...
We are to watch, and work, and pray, never letting self obtain the mastery. We are to be ready, through watchfulness and prayer, to spring into action in obedience to the Master’s command. Wherever we see work waiting to be done, we are to take it up and do it, constantly looking unto Jesus...
For Christ’s sake, watch and pray, and during the year that we have just entered, strive to restrain all harsh words. Resolve that you will not speak words that will cast a shadow over the lives of others. Do not stop to ask whether those around you appreciate your efforts to deny self. Open the windows heavenward. Think of Christ, and try to please Him...
Satan will use every possible device to make you like himself, and thus separate you from the One who gave His life for you. Evil angels will strive for the mastery in your life. If you have not on the whole armor of God, you will be overcome. Shall it be thus, or shall you sign the pledge that you will not be intemperate in word or in spirit, that you will keep the divine Pattern ever before you?
This warning was not given by the apostle without a purpose. We should all feel that it is our duty to stand at our post, on guard over ourselves, lest the evil agencies warring against us shall be successful in leading us to say and do that which will please the enemy.—Letter 11, January 10, 1905, “To Those Assembled at Council in Nashville.”
Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 24
