We are not responsible to God for the soul that are saved, but we are responsible for the Gospel that is preached, and for the way in which we preach it
Interpretation
We should focus on how we present the Gospel rather than the results of its acceptance.
This quote emphasizes the responsibility of individuals, particularly those in spiritual leadership, to accurately convey the message of the Gospel. It suggests that while the act of saving souls is ultimately beyond human control, the duty to preach effectively and faithfully is paramount and carries significant weight in one’s spiritual and moral obligation.
In practice
In a sermon to inspire the congregation to live out their faith responsibly.
Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man...Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.
When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.
It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
After faith comes repentance, or, rather, repentance is faith's twin brother and is born at the same time.
["All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant."] The original Hebrew word that has been translated "paths" means "well-worn roads' or "wheel tracks," such ruts as wagons make when they go down our green roads in wet weather and sink in up to the axles. God's ways are at times like heavy wagon tracks that cut deep into our souls, yet all of them are merciful.
All man's troubles come from not knowing how to sit still in one room.
I do not think our successes can compete with those of Lourdes. There are so many more people who believe in the miracles of the Blessed Virgin than in the existence of the unconscious.
Ownership is not limited to material things. It can also apply to points of view. Once we take ownership of an idea - whether it’s about politics or sports - what do we do? We love it perhaps more than we should. We prize it more than it is worth. And most frequently, we have trouble letting go of it because we can’t stand the idea of its loss. What are we left with then? An ideology - rigid and unyielding.
Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles.
We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities... still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness.
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