Giving up for Christ by Cuyler

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 10, 1871

Giving up for Christ.

By Cuyler

A FRIEND requested me to name a few simple and practical rules for Christian self-denial. “It is not what a man takes up, but what he gives up, that makes him rich toward God.” Now what ought a follower of Jesus to give up for his Master’s sake?

1. Of course every man who would become a Christ’s-man must renounce everything that God’s word and a healthy conscience set down as wrong. All sins are “contraband” at the gateway of entrance to the Christian life. The sentinel at the gate challenges us with the command—“Lay down that sin!” “Cease to do evil” comes before “Learn to do well.”

2. We must give up whatever by its direct influence tends to injure ourselves or others. Here comes in the law of brotherly love—the law of avoiding the appearance of evil, and of renouncing whatever causes our brother to stumble. This is the generally accepted basis for the duty of total abstinence from intoxicating drinks. They endanger my neighbor A——, and they are destroying my brother B——; therefore I ought to avoid setting the example of their use before A—— and B——. Total abstinence then rests on the double ground of self-preservation, and of self-denial for the sake of others. We have a very poor opinion of the piety of any man who will not give up his bottle of wine or any other self-indulgence for the sake of taking a stumbling-block out of a fellow-creature’s path.

This second principle of abandoning every practice which may mislead others is the one to be applied by a Christian whenever he is solicited to play whist, or to attend the opera, the circus, or the dancing-party. You may not become a gambler, but cards make gamblers of others. You may not be corrupted by the opera-stage, or the promiscuous dance; but their influence has damaged thousands of your fellow-Christians. The safe side of all questionable amusements is the outside.

3. Give up whatever tends to pamper the passions, or to kindle unholy desires. Paul’s noble determination to “keep his body under,” implies that there was something or other in Paul’s fleshly nature which ought to be kept under. It is also true of about every Christian, that somewhere in his nature lies a weak point, a besetting tendency to sin; and right there must be applied the check-rein of self-denial. Even eminent Christians have had to wage constant battle with sexual passions. Others have had sore conflict with irritable, violent tempers. Old Dr. Alexander used to say to us students, “Young brethren—envy is a besetting sin with the ministry; you must keep that abominable spirit under.” When a servant of Christ is willing to take a back-seat, or to yield the pre-eminence to others, he is making a surrender which is well-pleasing to his meek and lowly Master. One of the hardest things to many a Christian is to serve his Saviour as a private when his pride tells him that he ought to wear a “shoulder-strap,” in Christ’s army.

4. Another very hard thing for most persons to give up, is to give up having their own way. But the very essence of true spiritual obedience lies just here. It is right here that self-sufficiency, and vanity, and waywardness, and obstinacy are to be met. Here they must be sacrificed to that demand of the Master, that he shall rule and not we. Only a truly self-denying, self-abnegating disciple can adopt those words which the holy-minded Dr. Skinner lined off to his brethren just before his death—

“My Jesus, as thou wilt! Oh, may thy will be mine; Into thy hand of love I would my all resign!”

5. The last rule of giving up which we have room for in this brief article is, that time, ease, and money must all be held tributary to Christ. In these days of stylish equipage and social extravagance, how few Christians are willing to give up to Jesus the key to their purses and bank-safes! Too many go through the solemn farce of writing “Holiness to the Lord” on their property and then using it for their own gratification. Every servant of Christ should systematically bestow at least one tenth of his annual income in Christian charities, and as much more as he or she can afford without robbing others. What child of God was ever bankrupted by benevolence?

It is harder to give up ease than money. Personal exertion to save sinners, to do disagreeable duties, and to “keep at it” in up-hill work, is one of the severest tests of self-denying godliness. Blessed is that disciple who can say, “It is my meat to do my Master’s will, and to finish the work which he gave me to do.” He goes on giving up—and giving up for Christ until his dying hour; and then when he gets to Heaven he will find that what he lost for Christ’s sake,” has been saving up for him to be his everlasting treasure in glory.—Cuyler.