Fidelity

“ So, by simple fidelity, man may find within himself harmony, victory, and peace. When now, from this standpoint, he looks out on the universe,—and from no other standpoint can he hope for any clear vision,—what does he most clearly discern? ”

“ God wishes to try you, and prove your constancy. Not that He doubts you. On the contrary, He knows how true your heart is. He has every confidence in your fidelity. But He wishes to glorify that fidelity. He wishes to give you a chance to show that you can trust Him in the darkness as well as in the light. He strikes you, that you may have glorious wounds to show at the last day. ”

“ Let us encourage by our praises, if we cannot strengthen by our example, the souls who return to him: let us applaud their change, if we think it impossible, as yet to change ourselves; let us glory in defending them, if our passions will not, as yet, permit us to imitate them. Let us reverence and esteem virtue? Let us have no friends but the friends of God. Let us count upon the fidelity of men only in proportion as they are faithful to their Master and Creator. ”

“ Their attraction for you is the pledge that they are within your reach. Our prayers are prophets. There must be fidelity, and there must be adherence. How respectable the life that clings to its objects! Youthful aspirations are fine things, your theories and plans of life are fair and commendable:—but will you stick? ”

“ Nothing is more subtle than thought, nothing more powerful, nothing more irresistible in its operations, when rightly applied and held to with a faith and fidelity that is unswerving,—a faith and fidelity that never knows the neutralizing effects of doubt and fear. ”

“ It must be proved by the unwavering truth and fidelity—I might almost say, the inward truth of the heart and the outward character of the whole life; and, in short, of a higher love in its every species, whether human or divine. ”

“ Be faithful to thy trust, to thy flock, to thy domestics, to the public, to thy God. Fidelity consists in honestly keeping, preserving, and delivering up when required, whatever is intrusted to our care ”

“ Faith. The word faith is here used in the sense of fidelity, the character of one who can be depended upon to keep all his promises, to meet all of his obligations, and to be true to every relationship. ”

“ Of the faithful servant, uncomprehending as the rest of them, it is the fidelity alone that comes into play; a fidelity and a belief in his lord so strong that even amazement is subdued to a sort of saddened acceptance of a mysterious failure. ”

“ Reader, whoever you may be, whether boy or girl, if you would be happy and prosperous in this world, if you would enjoy the confidence of your friends, would win the favour of the God above, speak always the "truth in the love of it." Be so honest, so upright in your engagements that all who know you may be able to trust in your good faith, your fidelity to your word. Remember that "it is better not to vow than to vow and not perform," and that the seat of faithfulness is in the heart where God's Holy Spirit dwells, for "the fruit of the Spirit is faith." ”

“ "What a fuss people make about fidelity!" exclaimed Lord Henry. "Why, even in love it is purely a question for physiology. It has nothing to do with our own will. Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot: that is all one can say." ”

“ Knowledge and fidelity, not infallibility, these make a man an authority to others in things pertaining to this life—knowledge and fidelity, evidenced to us, first by the testimony of others, and secondly by our own experience. ”

“ Faith, that is, fidelity — the fealty of the finite will and understanding to the reason,
the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world
, as one with, and representative of, the absolute will, and to the ideas or truths of the pure reason, the supersensuous truths, which in relation to the finite will, and as meant to determine the will, are moral laws, the voice and dictates of the conscience; — this faith is properly a state and disposition of the will, or rather of the whole man, the I, or finite will, self-affirmed. ”

“ We must take care not to take that for “goodness.” There is a certain true fidelity that embraces everything. That is religion. It embraces God. It embraces spiritual faithfulness. It may be easily counterfeited. It has been the snare of our race to take “what is of the mere man,” and confound it with it.—Miller.
A faithful man—as a parent—a reprover—an adviser—one “without guile”—who can find? (Mic. vii. 1, 2) . Look close. View thyself in the glass of the Word (Psa. ci. 6) . Does thy neighbour, or thy friend, find thee faithful to him? What does our daily intercourse witness? ”

“ All souls would thus, in proportion to their degree of grace and of fidelity, have some of those touches; and the progress of all would consist in the degree to which that variety of acts would become informed and commanded by the supreme motive of all motives, Pure and Perfect Love. ”

“ Fidelity—often proof against all temptation—even death itself—an eminently cheerful and social temper—what the Bible imposes as a duty, but which might seem an equivocal virtue in the code of modern morality—submission to constituted authority, and a disposition to be attached to, as well as to respect those, whom they are taught to regard as superiors. ”

“ Far from stagnating or declining in number or in influence it has in recent years displayed a vitality which can well excite the admiration and envy of them all, and has demonstrated, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a fidelity to the principles of our Faith, whether a spiritual or administrative, and a capacity for service which all may well emulate. ”

“ "My dear boy, the people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect—simply a confession of failures. ”

“ Many honourable, most admirable and highly virtuous acts cannot take place without a second person. Fidelity is praised and held to be one of the chief blessings known among men, yet was any one ever on that account said to have kept faith with himself? ”

“ In these five paragraphs I have enumerated and explained the several powers or forces belonging or incidental to human nature, which in all matters of reason the man is bound either to subjugate or subordinate to reason. The application to Faith follows of its own accord. The first or most indefinite sense of faith is fidelity: then fidelity under previous contract or particular moral obligation. In this sense faith is fealty to a rightful superior: faith is the duty of a faithful subject to a rightful governor. ”

“ On fidelity in little things.—Our good God is contented with little virtues, if they are the result of our love for Him, and he knows how to increase them in our souls if they are performed with purity of intention. ”

“ II. His comfortable assurance that God would hear his prayer: Faithful is he who calleth you, who will also do it, v. 24. The kindness and love of God had appeared to them in calling them to the knowledge of his truth, and the faithfulness of God was their security that they should persevere to the end; and therefore, the apostle assures them, God would do what he desired; he would effect what he had promised; he would accomplish all the good pleasure of his goodness towards them. Note, Our fidelity to God depends upon his faithfulness to us. ”

“ In some cases, fidelity and devotion aided the suggestions of humanity. Among domestic servants, a race whose virtues should be the more esteemed, that they are practised sometimes in defiance of strong temptation, were found many distinguished instances of unshaken fidelity. ”

“ Sincere and earnest prayer, then, for patience, forbearance, self-denial, uprightness, courage, resignation, contentment, trust, fidelity to duty—for all the heavenly graces which the Lord is ever ready to bestow, and which are the only things proper for rational beings to pray for—is always sure to prevail. ”

“ Having your conversation always meet to minster grace to the hearers? And whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, doing all to the glory of God? And how much less are you able to fulfil all the inward commandments of God? Those which require, that every temper and motion of your soul should be holiness unto the Lord? Are you able, To love God with all your heart? To love all mankind as your own soul? To pray without ceasing? In every thing to give thanks? To have God always before you? And to keep every affection, desire and thought, in obedience to his law? ”

“ Put thy trust in God alone, On the help of men thou shalt not rely, It is only God whose faith doth hold, No other trust is there on earth. 2. Guard thine honor, avoid shame; Honor is indeed the greatest gain; If thou should'st miss a single chance, Then wilt thine honor pass away. 3. Talk not too much, but listen more, It will bring thee glory, honor, praise, With silence no one makes a slip, Gabbling leads many into sin and shame. ”

“ When you feel after the heart-strings of the people and touch them with the touch-stone of truth, all good men and women will answer to the test, showing that the spirit of truth, of intelligence, of union, of virtue, and integrity still exists and prevails in the bosom of all the faithful so that when we meet together in the capacity of a Conference, every opposing feeling to these noble qualities and truths in the character of a Saint is subdued, the Spirit of the Lord becomes the prevailing influence, and we feel as we have often felt on former occasions. ”

“ O thou who knowest all hearts, all motives, all circumstances past, present, and future, overrule for the manifestation of truth, for the safety and good of thy servant, and for the closer union of all concerned in the bands of Christian love, confidence, and affection; and as our covenant God, in whom we trust for guidance in every path of duty, glorify thy name. ”

“ You trust your husband, your wife, your child, your parent, your friend, your guide, your lawyer, your doctor, your banker. Take that very same emotion and attitude of the mind by which you put your well-being, in different aspects and provinces, into the hands of men and women round about you; lift the trailing flowers that go all straggling along the ground, and twine them round the pillars of God's throne, and you get the confidence, the trust, of the praises and glories of which the New Testament is full. ”

“ Give to all that are in error the light of thy truth; bring all sinners to repentance, (――) and give to all heretics humility and grace to make amends to thy church, by the public acknowledgement of an holy faith. Bless all my friends and relations, acquaintance and enemies: (――) unite us all to one another by mutual love, and to thyself by constant holiness; that we, together with all those who are gone before us in thy faith and fear, may find a merciful acceptance in the last day, through the merits of thy blessed Son, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all glory, world without end! ”

“ Be these same radiant qualities our proper medium for beholding Deity. Conceive of One in whose being the only light and glory reside in the pure majesty of a perfect grace and truth. Conceive how these free living qualities permit a unison in fellowship, a fellowship in unison. Conceive how such a unison permits to each participant complete equality and a full infinity. Conceive thus how perfect constancy and perfect kindliness, revealed in perfect purity, and clad in perfect majesty may manifest eternally in mystic unison the blessedness of a perfect personality. ”

“ I stand here to say, Let us worship the mighty and transcendent Soul. It is the office, I doubt not, of this age to annul that adulterous divorce which the superstition of many ages has effected between the intellect and holiness. The lovers of goodness have been one class, the students of wisdom another, as if either could exist in any purity without the other. Truth is always holy, holiness always wise. ”

“ What open hands, and open heart ought he to have, what an extent of charity ought to be visible in him, who is to bring his flock to this faith, that it is more blessed to give than to receive? How remarkably, undeniably plain, open, sincere, undesigning, and faithful should he be, who is to plant, and establish sincerity, plainness, simplicity, truth and innocence amongst his flock? ”

“ And if you are trusting in Him, in anything more than the mere formal, dead way in which multitudes of nominal Christians in all our congregations are doing so, your trust will produce all these various fruits of righteousness, and lowliness, and joyful service. 'Faith' or 'trust' is the mother of all graces and virtues, and it produces them all because it directly kindles the creative flame of an answering love to Him in whom we trust. ”

“ Trusting in him, hoping in him, delighting in him—these are precious evidences of our eternal election of God. Prayer is an evidence also. Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to him? The soul-breathing, desiring, thirsting after the favor and friendship of God. These desires going up to Him, as created by the Holy Spirit, in the day of prosperity or the night of adversity, are the precious evidences of electing love. Holiness is another evidence. We were chosen to be holy, and that we should walk in good works. ”

“ The greater passion is the better cause. If my love wrestles with my faith, as the angel with Jacob, and if my love stands upper-most, I will admit it's a fair game. Faith is faith, under a hundred forms! Upon my word, I should like to prove it. What a fraction of my personality is this clerical title! How little it expresses; how little it covers! On Sundays, in the pulpit, I stand up and talk to five hundred people. ”

“ Yet there was another side to the picture; here and there, amidst the din of battle and the confusion of tongues, the voice of genuine conviction was heard; and men and women were ready, at the bidding of conscience, to give up their lives in passionate loyalty to an ancient faith or to a new ideal. ”