Written by Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf - lecture at the Moravian chapel in London in 1746
Whoever is a true disciple, whoever is a child of God, is kind and obliging; he is a comfort to all and burdensome to none; he never asks much of anyone, but he rejoices when he can do much for another. He easily finds an excuse for his neighbor, should he make a mistake; and if someone begins a dispute with him concerning temporal and spiritual matters, then he always supposes the other to be right. If he is wronged, then he always thinks, haven't I also done something which makes it my fault? ....One is removed from all vainglory, from exalting oneself above others, from insisting on being in the right. If one is spoken or written against or opposed, then one is the first among the readers and hearers to help the slanderers and persecutors to the point by which they appear more innocent and equitable, thinking that the accusations were perhaps not without foundation. Indeed, one thinks before another thought arises, by what means did I give occasion for that? "Dear Father, do forgive the fault that is mine in that book, that slander, in that persecution." This is always the first thought of a heart that has received grace.
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