The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-03-11

Christ must study the charac-
ter Of Christ that he may make
1t his own.
Jesus defined his own character in
very plain words. The Son Of man Is
come not to be served. but to serve.
and to give" To serve and to give
must be our motto II We wish to be
followers of Jesus. He spent bis life
in service. saying Il am come down
from Heaven not to do my own will.
but the will Of him that sent me-" and
after he had finished the work which
God had given him to do (John 17:D
he gave his life a ransom for many.
Giving Is therefore an essential
part of following Jesus. as much SO ~
service 10. And 1t is the duty OF every
Christian to consider carefully and
prayerfully what he can and should
ways in which he can serve God effec-
lively for his gifts. Most persons
seem to begin at the wrong end by
waiting till some special appeal II
made. and then giving under the i'm
pulse OF that appeal without having
formed any definite purpose as to the
total amount to be given in the course
of a year. And 1t is reasonably safe
to say that most of those who give
only In this way give q much smaller
proportion Of their total income than
they suppose.
Systematic Giving.
Systematic giving is the only true
"a hA 4V1v
based on q frank recognition of Gods
claims and an honest effort to meet
them. The Nashville Christian Advo-
cate makes the following sensible re-
marks on this subject:
Thousands upon thousands have
adopted the tithing system. and it
should be no matter, of surprise to
those who believe in God and his word
that these thousands upon thousands
are wonderfully blessed in their spir-
itual life and In their material affairs.
Yet there may be a misleading influ-
ence in the meaning ordinarily at
tached to the words. I give a tenth to
God There 10 danger that people
will think that We may give nine
tenths to ourselves as long as We
give one-tenth to him.
God demands the ten-tenths. He tells
US that in supporting ourselves and
our families. and In supplying the
social. civic, mental and spiritual de-
mands Of our natures. We are truly
swing to him. It would be much bet
ter to say when laying aside that
tenth which Is for God: While We
feel that We should give all to God.
We are giving this one-tenth to him
for the support OF his church and his
little ones who throng the highways
and the byways Of the world This
10 the idea which establishes the
proper ratio between what belongs to
one part of Gods work and what BE-
longs to another part.
Recognition Of Gods Gifts.
"One.tenth of what We receive from
God-and We receive from no other
hands surely not too much to give
to him In carrying out his purposes
through his church. Some people think
that 1t 10 too little. One thing Is GER
tain: no sacrifice for God has ever
made the maker unhappy or less pros
porous"
HE that soweth sparingly shall
reap also sparingly: and he that SOW
eth bountifully shall reap also boun-
tifully. Let each man do according az
he hath purposed in his heart: not
grudgingly. or Of necessity: for God
loveth q cheerful giver. And God 10
able to make all grace abound unto
you: that 70 having always all sum-
cheney in everything. may abound unto
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