Romans 14:5-6 One man esteems one day above another: another esteems every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.… I. THERE ARE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THIS EXHORTATION HAS A PECULIAR MEANING. 1. As a young artist, lawyer, doctor, etc., enters upon his profession, advisers gather about him, and some kind, thoughtful old man says, "I have but one thing to say to you, be true to yourself." 2. At times communities sink down into a sort of dead contentment. Enterprise is, comparatively speaking, unknown; men read little and think less; religion, for the most part, is a repetition of things, and everything goes on in a servile and ignoble routine. Now, under such circumstances, it is a wholesome thing for a man to stir men up, and inspire them with curiosity, and make them long for other views of truth, and nobler ideals of life. Then, when there is resurrection from sloth, stupidity, and base conformity to a vulgar life, there is power in the maxim, "Be true to yourself." II. TO BE TRUE TO YOURSELF YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A DEVILISH AND A DIVINE SELF IN EVERY MAN. 1. Now the lower animal self no man can afford to be true to. Shall you say to a man who lives for eating and drinking, or to an old miser, "Be true to yourself"? Fidelity to self has been their damnation. One man is true to himself: he is a peacock. Another man is true to himself: he is a monkey. Another man is true to himself: he is a lion, or a tiger, or a bear. I say, in regard to your whole lower self, "Deny, discipline, educate, restrain that self." 2. But then, there is a Divine self. God comes into our consideration. Our mind takes in a nobler sphere, a larger range. Now, in regard to this higher self, be true to it. (1) Every child who comes out of his father's house should be exhorted, "Be true to yourself, as a man of honour." The spirit of honour is one of the things without which society would be bankrupt. No man, therefore, ought to go into society without having it. I love to hear a man, where there is occasion for it, say, "Do you doubt my honour, sir?" It is not best that he should talk much about it, or boast of it; but he ought to have it, and it should be fashioned on those elements which constitute a Christian gentleman. Sir Philip Sidney Was considered a perfect gentleman; but not, I take it, on such a pattern as 1 Corinthians 13 prescribes. Oh that I could make a bath of that chapter, and roll men in it till the colour struck through and through! What perfect gentlemen I would make of them! This is a thing of education. It is a work for the table and for the nursery. It is a process which we are to carry along with religious instruction. Young men! do not adopt that base and servile maxim, "When you are in Rome do as Romans do." You might as well say to a man, "Among foxes do as foxes do; among wolves do as wolves do; among lions do as lions do." No; be a man always and everywhere; and never forget that the more sensitive your honour the better for you. And if others are unlike you, let your light so shine that men shall see in your religion the type of higher character. (2) Cultivate conscience, too, which is something more comprehensive than honour. (a) Do you tell me that you cannot get along and be an honest man? I say that you cannot afford to get along then. I reply to you as Talleyrand replied to a man who said, "Why, you know I must live" — "I do not see that." Do you say, "I must have money"? Ah! that ends it for you. "They that will be rich," says the apostle, "fall into temptation and a snare." "The love of money is the root of all evil." If you cannot maintain your integrity and succeed, less success with a clear conscience will bring you more happiness. And success surely comes with conscience in the long run, other things being equal. Capacity and fidelity are commercially profitable qualities. (b) Be true to yourself, also, as a consciencebearer against ridicule. Many a man from fear of this goes aside from what he understands to be the truest and best things. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." Do not comply with others' opinions unless they commend themselves to your judgment. Do that which you think is right, whatever others may say or think. (c) Be true to yourself against sympathetic bias through your best affections. We hear people who have done what they knew was wrong say: "I could not say 'No,' and disoblige one who has been so kind to me." No one ever became a full man without some cross-bearing. (d) Be true to your conscience against all those society compliances which may be easy and pleasant, but which in the end lower the tone of your manhood and self-respect. (3) Be true to yourself, likewise, as a Christian man — a man according to the pattern of Christ Jesus. Be true to that manhood which has for its father, God; for its friend, Christ; for its light, the Holy Ghost. Conclusion: In attempting to be true to yourself, beware of conceit, narrow-mindedness, indecent haste, of that laziness which refuses to read or think, of that presumption which leads you to suppose you can safely depart from the results of centuries of experience. So be true to yourself, not in any vandal spirit, but with humility and meekness, with teachableness, with yearnings for a higher and better life. (H. W. Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. |
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