We
shall, as we ripen in grace, have greater sweetness towards our fellow
Christians. Bitter-spirited Christians may know a great deal, but they are
immature. Those who are quick to censure may be very acute in judgment, but
they are as yet very immature in heart. He who grows in grace remembers that he
is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be
anything more; he overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his
God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in
the creature, and, therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find
it.... I know we who are young beginners in grace think ourselves qualified to
reform the whole Christian church. We drag her before us, and condemn her straightway;
but when our virtues become more mature, I trust we shall not be more tolerant
of evil, but we shall be more tolerant of infirmity, more hopeful for the
people of God, and certainly less arrogant in our criticisms.”
― Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon he delivered on Sunday Morning, August 14, 1870, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. For the full text of the sermon go
here
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