And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. Luke 21:3.

The poor widow who cast two mites into the treasury of the Lord showed love, faith, and benevolence. She gave all that she had, trusting to God’s care for the uncertain future. Her little gift was pronounced by our Saviour the greatest that day cast into the treasury. Its value was measured, not by the worth of the coin, but by the purity of the motive which prompted her.

God’s blessing upon that sincere offering has made it the source of great results. The widow’s mite has been like a tiny stream flowing down through the ages, widening and deepening in its course, and contributing in a thousand directions to the extension of the truth and the relief of the needy.

The influence of that small gift has acted and reacted upon thousands of hearts in every age and in every country. As the result, unnumbered gifts have flowed into the treasury of the Lord from the liberal, self-denying poor. And again, her example has stimulated to good works thousands of ease-loving, selfish, and doubting ones, and their gifts also have gone to swell the value of her offering.

Liberality is a duty on no account to be neglected; but let not rich or poor for a moment entertain the thought that their offerings to God can atone for their defects of Christian character. Says the great apostle: “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing,”

Again, he sets forth the fruits of true charity: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.” If we would be accepted as the followers of Christ, we must bring forth the fruits of His Spirit; for our Saviour Himself declares: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

It is to cultivate a spirit of benevolence in us that the Lord calls for our gifts and offerings. He is not dependent upon men for means to sustain His cause. He declares, by the prophet: “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine…. The world is mine and the fulness thereof”—The Signs of the Times, January 21, 1886.

From Reflecting Christ

They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. Revelation 3:4.

Lead the youth to see that in dress, as in diet, plain living is indispensable to high thinking. Lead them to see how much there is to learn and to do; how precious are the days of youth as a preparation for the lifework. Help them to see what treasures there are in the Word of God, in the book of nature, and in the records of noble lives.

Let their minds be directed to the suffering which they might relieve. Help them to see that by every dollar squandered in display, the spender is deprived of means for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and comforting the sorrowful.

They cannot afford to miss life’s glorious opportunities, to dwarf their minds, to ruin their health, and to wreck their happiness, for the sake of obedience to mandates that have no foundation in reason, in comfort, or in comeliness.

At the same time the young should be taught to recognize the lesson of nature, “He hath made every thing beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, R.V.). In dress, as in all things else, it is our privilege to honor our Creator. He desires our clothing to be not only neat and healthful, but appropriate and becoming.

A person’s character is judged by his style of dress. A refined taste, a cultivated mind, will be revealed in the choice of simple and appropriate attire. Chaste simplicity in dress, when united with modesty of demeanor, will go far toward surrounding a young woman with that atmosphere of sacred reserve which will be to her a shield from a thousand perils.

Let girls be taught that the art of dressing well includes the ability to make their own clothing…. It will be a means of usefulness and independence that she cannot afford to miss….

Let the youth and little children be taught to choose for themselves that royal robe woven in heaven’s loom—the “fine linen, clean and white” (Revelation 19:8), which all the holy ones of earth will wear. This robe, Christ’s own spotless character, is freely offered to every human being. But all who receive it will receive and wear it here.

Let the children be taught that as they open their minds to pure, loving thoughts and do loving and helpful deeds, they are clothing themselves with His beautiful garment of character. This apparel will make them beautiful and beloved here, and will hereafter be their title of admission to the palace of the King. His promise is: “They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.”—Education, 248, 249.

From Reflecting Christ

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven …: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:20, 21.

Where their treasure is, there will their heart be also. Those who have the Lord’s talents of means are placed under a heavy responsibility. They are not to invest money merely for the gratification of selfish desires, for whatever is spent in this way is just that much kept from the Lord’s treasury. Through the sovereign goodness of God, the Holy Spirit works through the human agent, and causes him to make smaller or larger investments in the cause of God, to make them redound to the glory of God.

Whenever you think of using the Lord’s money for your own selfish gratification, remember that there are many who are in deep poverty who cannot purchase either food or clothing, and they are God’s heritage. We are to do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. If those who have abundant means are God’s agents in dealing in truth, they will use their treasures wisely, so that none of the household of faith need to go hungry or naked.

The reason there is such accumulated misery in our world is because those who have been entrusted with money expend it to gratify unsanctified desires, in purchasing needless ornaments of gold and precious stones, and in procuring fancy articles for adornment’s sake. But at the same time those who have been purchased by the blood of Christ are starving for food, and their cry entereth into the ears of the God of Sabaoth…. In every place where the truth is to go, those who are to be colaborers with God have a work to do….

Earnest work must be done, not only by a few ministers, but by the whole membership of the church. The Lord God of heaven calls upon men to put away their idols, to cut off every extravagant desire, to indulge in nothing that is simply for display and parade, and to study economy in purchasing garments and furniture. Do not expend one dollar of God’s money in purchasing needless articles. Your money means the salvation of souls. Then let it not be spent for gems, for gold, or precious stones.

Souls for whom Christ died are perishing in their sins, and we are continually bound about because of want of means wherewith to advance the cause of God. Would you not rather have gems in the crown which Jesus shall place upon your head than expend your money for precious stones to please the fancy here in this world? … Every pound is needed, every shilling can be put to use, and invested in such a way as to bring you imperishable treasure.—Letter 90, 1895.

From Reflecting Christ

Let not yours be the outward adorning with … decoration of gold, and wearing of fine clothing, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 3:3, 4, R.S.V.

While at Brother Harris’s I had an interview with a sister who wore gold, and yet professed to be looking for Christ’s coming. We spoke of the express declaration of Scripture against the wearing of gold. But she referred to where Solomon was commanded to beautify the Temple, and to the statement that the streets of the City of God were pure gold. She said that if we could improve our appearance by wearing gold, so as to have influence in the world, it was right.

I replied that we were poor fallen mortals, and instead of decorating these bodies because Solomon’s Temple was gloriously adorned, we should remember our fallen condition, and that it cost the suffering and death of the Son of God to redeem us. This thought should cause us self-abasement.

Jesus is our pattern. If He would lay aside His humiliation and sufferings, and cry, “If any man will come after Me, let him please himself, and enjoy the world, and he shall be My disciple,” the multitude would believe and follow Him. But Jesus will come to us in no other character than that of the meek, crucified One. If we would be with Him in heaven, we must be like Him on earth. The world will claim its own; and whoever will overcome must leave what belongs to it.—Life Sketches, pp. 113, 114.

In the day when the accounts of all are balanced, will you feel … that the beauty of the outward man was sought, while the inward beauty of the soul was almost entirely neglected?

Have not our sisters sufficient zeal and moral courage to place themselves without excuse upon the Bible platform? The apostle has given most explicit direction on this point: “I will therefore … that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but … with good works.”—Testimonies for the Church 4:630.

Love of dress and pleasure is wrecking the happiness of thousands…. To dress plainly, abstaining from display of jewelry and ornaments of every kind, is in keeping with our faith.—Testimonies for the Church 3:366.

The inward adorning of a meek and quiet spirit is priceless. In the life of the true Christian the outward adorning is always in harmony with the inward peace and holiness…. It is right to love beauty and desire it; but God desires us to love and seek first the highest beauty, that which is imperishable.—The Acts of the Apostles, 523.

From Reflecting Christ

The Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Psalm 149:4.

The most precious fruit of sanctification is the grace of meekness. When this grace presides in the soul, the disposition is molded by its influence. There is a continual waiting upon God and a submission of the will to His. The understanding grasps every divine truth, and the will bows to every divine precept, without doubting or murmuring. True meekness softens and subdues the heart and gives the mind a fitness for the engrafted Word. It brings the thoughts into obedience to Jesus Christ. It opens the heart to the Word of God, as Lydia’s was opened. It places us with Mary, as learners at the feet of Jesus. “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way” (Psalm 25:9).

The language of the meek is never that of boasting. Like the child Samuel, they pray, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:9)….

Meekness in the school of Christ is one of the marked fruits of the Spirit. It is a grace wrought by the Holy Spirit as a sanctifier, and enables its possessor at all times to control a rash and impetuous temper. When the grace of meekness is cherished by those who are naturally sour or hasty in disposition, they will put forth the most earnest efforts to subdue their unhappy temper. Every day they will gain self-control, until that which is unlovely and unlike Jesus is conquered. They become assimilated to the Divine Pattern, until they can obey the inspired injunction, “Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19)….

Meekness is the inward adorning, which God estimates as of great price. The apostle speaks of this as more excellent and valuable than gold or pearls or costly array. While the outward adorning beautifies only the mortal body, the ornament of meekness adorns the soul and connects finite man with the infinite God. This is the ornament of God’s own choice. He who garnished the heavens with the orbs of light has by the same Spirit promised that “he will beautify the meek with salvation.” Angels of heaven will register as best adorned those who put on the Lord Jesus and walk with Him in meekness and lowliness of mind.

There are high attainments for the Christian. He may ever be rising to higher attainments.—The Sanctified Life, 14-16.

From Reflecting Christ