Grace Must Grow

From The Christian Reader:

Grace Must Grow






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“This also we wish, even your perfection.” (2 Corinthians 13:9)



Seek larger degrees of grace. Let your standard be the loftiest, and your aim the highest. Place no limit to that which God has not limited. Never cease expecting until He ceases giving. If you are satisfied with your present measure of grace, a worse sign you could not have. To be content with being stationary in the divine life places you in a doubtful position.



It is an essential property of grace that it grows. It is the immortal seed of God, and must, from its very nature, germinate. If your faith does not increase, your doubts will increase; and if your grace does not strengthen, your fears will strengthen. Fill the measure with pure wheat, as one has said, and there will be no room for chaff. Aim after elevated principles, if you desire elevated practice. Low principles invariably lead to low practice. Watch against that which tends to impair the vigor of your grace. Watch against your besetting sins; your greatest infirmities; your strongest temptations. Beware of your own heart; beware of self-confidence; beware of creature idolatry; beware of the world.



Beware, too, of any neglect of the means of grace. God has appointed His channels of conveyance. Beware that you do not despise any one of them. A neglected sanctuary; a forsaken throne of grace; an unread Bible; will soon bring leanness into your soul. God has as much ordained the means of grace, as He has appointed the grace of the means.



—from Octavius Winslow, Morning Thoughts