The Tozer Anthology

As reported in the Mar/Apr 2016 issue.

Compiled by Harry Verploegh

By A. W. Tozer

One mighty fact overwhelms all other considerations and gives significance to everything we do. It is that the human race has left its first estate and is morally and spiritually fallen.

 

The universal disaster of the Fall compels us to think differently about our obligation to our fellow men. It is in view of this that all our Christian service must be evaluated. The needs of people, not our own convenience, decide how far we shall go and how much we shall do.

 

Christ sacrificed many pure enjoyments to give Himself to the holy work of moral rescue. His conduct was determined not by what was legitimate or innocent but by our human need. He pleased not Himself but lived for the emergency, and as He was so are we in this world.

 

Before the judgment seat of Christ, my service will be judged, not by how much I have done, but by how much I could have done. In God’s sight my giving is measured not by how much I have given but by how much I could have given and how much I had left after I made my gift.

 

Not by its size is my gift judged, but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything acceptable to God until he has first given himself in love and sacrifice.

From That Incredible Christian, originally published in Alliance Life, November 11, 1992.