...I do not say, Don't play games or cricket and so forth. By all means play and enjoy them, giving thanks to Jesus for them. Only take care that games do not become an idol to you as they did to me. What good will it do to anybody in the next world to have been the best player that ever has been? And then think of the difference between that and winning souls for Jesus.
Interpretation
Enjoy activities like games, but prioritize spiritual pursuits over worldly achievements.
This quote reflects on the balance between enjoying life's pleasures, such as games, and maintaining a focus on spiritual growth and responsibilities. Charles Studd suggests that while it is permissible to engage in recreational activities, one must be wary of allowing these pastimes to overshadow more important pursuits, particularly in the context of one's faith and the impact on others' lives. Ultimately, he emphasizes the significance of spiritual achievements over earthly accolades.
In practice
During a group discussion about values, this quote can emphasize the importance of keeping priorities straight.
I cannot tell you what joy it gave me to bring the first soul to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have tasted almost all the pleasures that this world can give. I do not suppose there is one that I have not experienced, but I can tell you that those pleasures were as nothing compared to the joy that the saving of that one soul gave me.
Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible, by faith in the omnipotence, fidelity, and wisdom of the Almighty Saviour Who gave the command. Is there a wall in our path? By our God we will leap over it! Are there lions and scorpions in our way? We will trample them under our feet! Does a mountain bar our progress? Saying, 'Be thou cast into the sea,' we will march on. Soldiers of Jesus! Never surrender!
Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.
I realized that my life was to be one of simple, childlike faith, and that my part was to trust, not to do. I was to trust in Him and He would work in me to do His good pleasure. From that time my life was different.
Real Christians revel in desperate ventures for Christ, expecting from God great things and attempting the same with exhilaration.
It tires me to talk to rich men. You expect a man of millions, the head of a great industry, to be a man worthhearing; but as a rule they don't know anything outside their own business.
[T]hough individual oppression may now and then proceed fro the courts of justice, the general liberty of the people can never be endangered from that quarter . . .
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Some men never feel small, but these are the few men who are.
The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities.
There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work.
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