Critical advice for young struggling Christians

 

“Emotional and spiritual poverty is what most of us have to dread, and if we wish for spiritual returns, we must make spiritual investments.

Many of us are hampered by the dreariness and dullness of the education and influences we receive.

But this is no excuse for sinking into a kind of melancholy bankruptcy, and moving through the world disheartened and disheartening, 

rich only in the capacity for woe.

A great teacher has an extraordinary power—not only to draw out the finest capacities from the finest minds,

but to give even second-rate minds the conviction that knowledge is interesting and worth attention.

If we have missed the influence of such a teacher,

we must resolutely put ourselves in touch with great minds.

We shall not burst into flame at once;

and the process may feel like rubbing one dry stick against another.

And no one can prescribe the path, for we must advance along the slender line of our own interests and gifts.

 

Yet we can all find one writer who revives and inspires us;

and if we persevere, the narrow path slowly widens into a road, while our whole mental and spiritual landscape takes shape around us.

One thing, fortunately, of which there is abundance in the world is good advice; 

and if we feel at a loss, 

we can turn to someone who has a clearer vision of finer things, 

whose delight is fresh and eager, 

whose mind sparks and ignites ours, 

and whose faith and way of handling life is gracious and generous.

One thing, then, I wish to urge is that we take up the pursuit in an entirely practical way; as Emerson said, with his splendid blend of common sense and idealism,

“Hitch our wagon to a star.”

It’s easy enough to lose ourselves in beautiful feelings that never quite turn into spiritual progress, and to believe that only our cramped conditions have hindered us from developing into something very wonderful.

But with the examples and inspiration from others, we’ll see

a hundred doors will open to us if we only knock at them."

But of course, we prize above all else Paul’s instructions --

“For you may have countless instructors in Christ, but you don’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.”

1 Corinthians 4:15-16