Spiritual welfare

“ It is the duty of the Relief Societies to look after the spiritual welfare of themselves and of all the female members of the Church. It is their duty to collect means from those who have in abundance, and to distribute it wisely unto those in need. ”

“ Whatever difficulties may trouble you the Lord will disperse them. To those who have preferred spiritual welfare, He will give health of body, keenness of mind, success in business, and unbroken prosperity. ”

“ Our national welfare depends not upon miracles, but upon those provisions of human forethought or experience, which, under the Divine blessing, appear best adapted to meet each exigency that arises. And although there is often cause to lament that this blessing is so seldom implored by us distinctly and publicly as a Christian people, and so little acknowledged by us in the many mercies, which, as a Christian people, we are enjoying, yet still we may humbly believe that the inquiry now conducted cannot be displeasing to God. ”

“ Above all, he was warning of the danger that faces us to-day, of becoming so much interested in a man’s social welfare that we lose sight of the emphasis which the great Teacher would put upon the qualities which make up humanity.
We must recognize man as a spiritual being, and everything that goes to make him better physically ought to make him better spiritually. The best work of the church, and the work which God alone can do for the community, is to carry humanity beyond physical betterment into the realm of spiritual idealism. ”

“ One other consideration may be added to show that it would not be wise to narrow the scope to the promotion of men's physical welfare only, for the sake of leaving the management unlimited. Heretofore the evangelical churches in their efforts for the spiritual have failed adequately to recognize the physical. There is now a great awakening of interest in the latter; and human nature, being what it is, warrants the expectation that in due time there will be a tendency to the other extreme, and many will be liable to emphasize the physical to the neglect of the spiritual. ”

“ Graham.
“After the physical welfare of our people is looked after, we make it imperative that they study, and learn and adhere to the laws governing the spiritual being. Our religion teaches us that if we abuse the body and die before our time we shall not enter the great hereafter ”

“ If any pious soul will accurately ascertain what it is in the character of the Man Christ Jesus, the contemplation of which fills his heart with rapture and his eyes with tears, that pious soul will know what is here meant by the expression “supreme interest in human welfare.” Most of us, alarmed at the dangers which beset our lives, distracted with cares, blinded with desires to secure our own safety, are absorbed in schemes of personal advantage. ”

“ But the welfare of Religion is more than each or all of these. The glad reliance that comes upon the man; the sense of trust; a rest with God; the soul's exceeding peace; the universal harmony; the infinite within; sympathy with the Soul of All—is bliss that words cannot portray. ”

“ Religion — sound, regenerating, uplifting faith in God— is no fashion, is not a point of good manners, does not consist in rites and ceremonies, is something incalculably superior to a utilitarian provision for general welfare. ”

“ And the more faithfully it labors to do this, the more does it promote its own health and strength, as well as the health and strength of the other members. The welfare of each is linked indissolubly with that of all the others. One life pervades them all, and each receives and enjoys that life in proportion as it respects and faithfully works for the good of the whole. ”

“ The aim is higher and more distant. The aim of this teaching is not dependent on material welfare; it is the salvation of the soul, i.e of that divine element which has been enclosed in man. This salvation is attained by renouncing personal life and therefore, also, material well-being, and by striving after the welfare of one's neighbours—by love. And it is only by this endeavour that men will, incidentally, attain the greatest welfare of all—the kingdom of God upon earth. ”

“ And here we should notice that most comforting doctrine revealed by Jesus Christ, and that is, that our eternal welfare does not depend on our judging correctly as to what is for the best good of all concerned, both for this life and the life to come. On the contrary, we are assured that it is having our heart, or chief desire, set to do right by obeying all God’s laws as fast as we learn what they are. ”

“ Adversity, in whatever form, will, I feel confident, now that they have laid an unassailable basis for the Faith, in their hearts and through their institutions, serve to heighten the ardour of their devotion, and reinforce the foundation of their spiritual community life. They should persevere, redouble their efforts, close their ranks, intensify their individual as well as collective teaching activities, and defend even more tenaciously and courageously the tenets, claims and institutions of their Faith. ”

“ I firmly believe that we ought to add to our Methodist practise some of the Great Truths about the, alas, too often occulted and obstructed Inner Divine Powers possessed in unconsciousness by each of us, as New Thought has revealed them to us, and that we ought most certainly not to confine the Church to already perceived dogmas but encourage it to grow. It stands to reason that really devout prayer and concentration should most materially effect both bodily health and financial welfare. ”

“ Let us now turn to the precepts of our blessed Saviour, and their immediate practical results in elevating humanity to a higher plane, and in enhancing the general welfare of the human race. The fundamental principles of the Christian system are, besides faith in the revealed mysteries, supreme love to God and fraternal love to man. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. ”

“ Answering again the call for freedom from pain, and we have our hospitals, and our great doctors, and all who work for the betterment of the world. Here is the real and living church of God on earth. They say we are leaving the churches behind us. Say rather that the church is more with us, and all are its ministers who are working for the world's welfare. ”

“ The privations and sufferings that destroy the material welfare which is the object of the social life-conception produce no effect upon the welfare of the Christian's life, which rests on the consciousness that he is doing God's will—nay, they may even serve to promote that welfare when they are visited upon him for fulfilling that will. ”

“ The great ones of the world who have made stupendous sacrifices for the land of their birth, or for their fellow men in general, have all had a supreme vision of the welfare of country and humanity before their mind’s eye. If we desire to evoke self-sacrifice, then we must assist the people to meditate thus on a grand vision. Heaps of thread and piles of cloth do not constitute the subject of a great picture of welfare. ”

“ Great indeed and beyond the strength of man are these objects of our hopes and prayers, Venerable Brothers; but since God has made the nations of the earth for health, [4] when He founded the Church for the welfare of the peoples, and promised that He will abide with her by His assistance to the end of the world. We firmly trust that, through your endeavors, the human race, taking warning from so many evils and visitations, will submit themselves at length to the Church, and turn for health and prosperity to the infallible guidance of this Apostolic See. ”

“ Though indeed the welfare even of the body is then more providently consulted for if its temporal life and welfare be disregarded for righteousness’ sake, and its pain or death most patiently for righteousness’ sake endured. ”

“ It means to consider the welfare of the community as one’s own. It means, in brief, to regard humanity as a single individual, and one’s own self as a member of that corporeal form, and to know of a certainty that if pain or injury afflicts any member of that body, it must inevitably result in suffering for all the rest. ”

“ So far from this, we believe that it was implanted in the heart of man to stimulate his efforts, and ultimately secure his welfare. But let us not forget that gracious Providence by whose blessing only progress can become a real good, and let us practically recognize the supreme importance of individual progress in the paths of religion and virtue. Formed “for the glory of God, and that we should show forth His praise,” we are not at liberty to devote our hearts exclusively or mainly to mere temporal pursuits. ”

“ In short, care depends upon charity which is linked with prayers that bring health and healing to the body and produces a rare clarity of mind and enhances moral and spiritual power, therefore, it is said that prayers keep away all sorts of suffering and troubles. ”

“ If there is one relation in life that should be given preparation, almost I would say that should be entered upon with prayer and fasting, it is that by which you shall become responsible for the welfare of future beings, your children. ”

“ If teachers who thus view religion as, on the whole, a movement toward the increase of social welfare are asked what their counsel is to the individual regarding the salvation of his soul, they will reply: "If you want to be saved, come out of yourself." Some of them would add: "Forget yourself." But whether they use this latter extremely ambiguous and doubtful form of advice, they very generally agree that to seek to save your own soul by any merely or mainly inward and non-social process is to secure perdition. "It is love that saves," they are fond of {57} telling us. ”

“ II. From the characteristic of Divine beneficence. The supply of our physical necessities and comforts comes in the order of those natural laws already referred to. Social and civil blessings result from certain principles of mental, moral, and political science. Method is equally characteristic of our spiritual blessings. No sooner had man fallen, than God began to unfold the remedial scheme. ”

“ Such is the economy of the gospel, and it is this which makes the servitude of the Christian so delightful. Faithfulness to God is faithfulness to our own souls. Parents who are thus faithful to God must be faithful to themselves and to their children. Thus, then, the interest of God in our families is the welfare of all the members. When we act towards our children as God directs, we are but promoting their greatest welfare. ”

“ The best arguments for giving relief upon a definite plan are the results of haphazard benevolence that are all around us—feeble-minded women with illegitimate offspring, children crippled by drunken fathers, juvenile offenders who began as child-beggars, aged parents neglected by their children. Every form of human weakness and depravity is intensified by the charity that asks no questions.
The third relief principle is that relief should look not only to the alleviation of present suffering, but to promoting the future welfare of the recipient. ”

“ Have all one and the same welfare, are all equally well off with one and the same thing? If that be so, the question is of the "true welfare." Do we not with this come right to the point where religion begins its dominion of violence? Christianity says, Look not on earthly toys, but seek your true welfare, become—pious Christians; being Christians is the true welfare. ”

“ To participate effectively in the struggle to bring material well-being to humanity, the religious spirit must find—in the Source of inspiration from which it flows—new spiritual concepts and principles relevant to an age that seeks to establish unity and justice in human affairs. ”

“ Whatever, in its proper tendency and general effect, produces, secures, or extends human welfare, is according to the will of God, and is good; and our duty is to favour and promote, according to our power, that which God favours and promotes by the general law of his providence. On the other hand, whatever in its proper tendency and general effect destroys, abridges, or renders insecure, human welfare, is opposed to God's will, and is evil. ”

“ Sound religious and secular education, means and opportunities for labour, more than almsgiving will facilitate the realization of this lofty object. This is why various organizations have been established to alleviate the different forms of corporal misery. To the Church belongs the credit of taking the initiative in promoting systematized effort for the welfare of the needy. ”

“ How are we to heal others? First, by keeping in good spiritual health ourselves, lest we be told: ^Physician, heal thyself! ' By lives of regularity, by regular prayer, and regular sacraments; by lives that keep ever in touch with God, that look to God, that are spent in His presence, and are filled with work done for His cause. Thus shall we spread the light of truth, and make the force of good example felt: thus shall we make a protest against the disease of sin, and reparation to the Sacred Heart. ”

“ And among them with patient energy toils a large body of devoted Christian men of different nations, of different Churches, but of a common charity, tending their spiritual needs, enlarging their social and moral conceptions, and advancing their education year by year. ”

“ That our present and future welfare hangs, as by a thread, upon that one inherent, all-important characteristic, that we are a religious community, seems to me plain to all who care to read correctly the signs of the times. ”

“ All we have to do on an occasion wherein the welfare of our fellows is so deeply interested, is to take care that our own benevolence, and the benevolence which we recommend to others, is of the true and {155} genuine sort; in other words, that it is Christian. ”