than love to God excited our indignation.

If we find ourselves indulging, habitually and with satisfaction in any
one sin, we may be sure that we have not true hatred for any sin;
for sin is hateful because it is contrary to the infinite wisdom and
goodness of God. If we abhor it for this reason, we shall abhor all sin;
and if we find ourselves hating some sins and loving others, we may be
sure that we hate those which are repugnant to our own tastes, and love
those which are in conformity with them. Thus our measure of sin is in
ourselves, and not in God; and we are putting ourselves in place of
God,--worshipping the idol self, instead of our Father in heaven.

The Lord was very explicit in his teachings regarding the necessity of
the denial of self; but this is the last thing in which we are willing
to obey him. We profess to be willing and eager to do a great deal of
good; but when conscience tells us that we must do the will of God every
moment of our lives, we turn away with a sorrowful countenance; for
there are many things in which we wish to follow our own wills without
stopping to consult the will of God, and we wish to believe that we can
do this and yet be quite virtuous enough to insure salvation. While the
natural man is strong within us, we are ever striving to serve God and
mammon; but when the spiritual man is born, we are willing to give up
all else and follow the Lord. Then, we feel that we cannot be truly
virtuous, because we are, in some points, very scrupulous, while in
others we are very indifferent; for we perceive that goodness is the
harmonious development of the whole Character into accordance with the
will of God.

So long as we labor for ourselves we shall be, at best, only special
reformers, and cultivators of special virtues; but when we are ready to