1 Thessalonians 5:14 Now we exhort you, brothers, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. "Lord, I can't make these sticks perfectly straight; I have lost all my strength. Send me to another field." But what is the answer of the Holy Spirit? "You were not sent to that field to take every crook out of those sticks; you can't perfect human nature; that is My work." Now there is something in every man — ministers included — that is a little gnarly. It is peculiar to the individual — a streak of the old Adam inwrought in his individuality. In one it is stubbornness, in another it is suspiciousness, in another reserve, in another a disposition to be critical, or fault finding, or censorious. By whatever name it may be known, it is, in fact, a little twist of depravity, and no human influence, no preacher, can untwist it and straighten it out. It is a peculiar twist of self, inborn, inbred, inwrought. So when I discover what a man's peculiar twist is, I say, "The Lord only can take that out of him, and I won't touch it if I can help it." I tried my hand at this once on a good Scotch brother, and I will never try it again. He was a most uncompromising subject, and I am quite convinced that if I had had a little more charity for his peculiarities he would have been a very useful man. (Dr. Spinning.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. |
    |