Being and Doing

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 8, 1906

MANY persons are possessed with a desire to do or to say, while they forget that what they are is far more important than what they do. Doing is the result of being. God sees what a man is, men see what he does. There are persons who wonder that their words have no power. They need not wonder. When Napoleon was asked which was the best style of rifle, he replied, “It depends a great deal on the man that stands behind it.” The same thing might be said of a sermon, an exhortation, or an admonition. A thought largely derives its importance from the character of him who uttered it. Our first duty is to be what we should be; then comes the obligation to say and to do things which God requires at our hands. Being must go before doing, as thinking precedes saying.—Selected.