A few years ago I stumbled across an antique book called “The Imitation of Christ” with a stunning art deco cover and in wonderful condition. I was pleasantly discovered that what was inside was equally as lovely and not at all out of touch with today, even though it was written in the early 1400s. Here are some quotes from the book that I hope get you thinking and feeling this morning. Happy Sunday!“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”
“If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.”
“A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.”
“Wherever you go, there you are.”
“All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.”
“As long as you live, you will be subject to change, whether you will it or not – now glad, now sorrowful; now pleased, now displeased; now devout, now undevout; now vigorous, now slothful; now gloomy, now merry. But a wise man who is well taught in spiritual labor stands unshaken in all such things, and heeds little what he feels, or from what side the wind of instability blows.”
“God hath thus ordered it, that we may learn to bear one another’s burdens; for no man is without fault, no man without his burden, no man sufficient of himself, no man wise enough of himself; but we ought to bear with one another, comfort one another, help, instruct, and admonish one another.”
“By two wings is man lifted above earthly things, even by simplicity and purity. Simplicity ought to be in the intention, purity in the affection.”
“Fight like a man. Habit is overcome by habit.”
“The Lord bestows his blessings there, where he finds the vessels empty.”
“It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to all outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do not think well of us, then we are more inclined to seek God Who sees our hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root himself so firmly in God that he will not need the consolations of men.”
