10/30/2023
The Quotable John Wesley
At the 10:30 service Sunday, I used the following directive created by the founder of Methodism, John Wesley.
“Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can.”
It’s a mouthful, but it’s a wonderful way to make a point. The result of a loving relationship with God is the desire to choose what is right over what is wrong, to accept our neighbors and not reject them, to do what is good, kind, and helpful over what is bad, self-centered, and hurtful.
I also love the reverend doctor Wesley’s philosophy about wealth.
He wrote the following rules—as much for himself as for others:
- Gain all you can, without hurting either yourself or your neighbor, in soul or body, by applying diligence, and with all the understanding which God has given you.
- Save all you can, by cutting off every expense which serves only to indulge foolish desire, to gratify either the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life.
- Waste nothing, living or dying, on sin or folly, whether for yourself or your children.
- And then, Give all you can, or in other words give all you have to God.
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