Abound in Love at Home and Abroad

[Thompson, Darryl]

Abound in Love at Home and Abroad

     Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct
our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in  love
one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you. 1
Thess. 3:11, 12  

     Missionary work is to be done in the home. Here those who have
received Christ are to show what grace has done for them. A divine
influence controls the true believer in Christ, and this influence makes
itself felt throughout the home and is favorable for the perfection of
the characters of all in the home.  

     The faithful performance of home duties has an influence upon those
not in the home. Our spiritual progress in the home is carried into our
missionary work abroad. In the father's house is to be given the
evidence of a fitness to work for the church. With earnest, humble
hearts the members of the family are to seek to know that Christ is
abiding in the heart. Then they can go forth fully armed and  equipped
for service. . . .  

     The effort to make the home what it should be--a symbol of the home
in heaven--prepares us for work in a larger sphere. The education
received by showing a tender regard for each other enables us to know
how to reach hearts that need to be taught the principles of true
religion. The church needs all the cultivated spiritual force which can
be obtained, that all, and especially the younger members of the Lord's
family, may be carefully guarded. The truth lived at home makes itself
felt in disinterested labor abroad. He who lives Christianity in the
home will be a bright and shining light everywhere.  

     The more closely the members of the family are united in their work
in the home, the more uplifting and helpful will be the influence that
father and mother and sons and daughters will exert outside the home. 

>From My Life Today - Page 221