Cornelius Vanderbilt built railroads that turned him from successful businessman into a multi-millionaire. His fiercely-combative nature left little room for mercy. In one business conflict he threatened to ruin a competitor since it would take too long to sue him. Yet, on his death bed he died murmuring a hymn of being a poor and needy sinner seeking mercy. Life History U.S., Vol. 5, p. 17. A life-long mindset to dominate others vanished and led him to beg favor from the God he couldn't dominate. That's a mindset changing from benefactor to supplicant.
Speaking of mindset determining decisions, in the increasingly heated rhetoric of the 1850's, the existence of slavery so dominated southern thinking it left no room for compromise. Whatever revisionists say, every other difference between the sections could be arbitrated. But not the refusal of the North to accept slavery, and of the South to surrender it. As Lincoln said in his eloquent Second Inaugural Address, "Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish." A spiritual lesson lurks in the point. Our basic spiritual mindset determines how far we go when Jesus calls for obedience; how fervently we speak UP when hearing him attacked; how generously we respond to the kingdom's financial needs; how willingly we volunteer when the church needs servants, etc. If we understand how MUCH God has forgiven us, we're far more committed to Jesus than if we think we're not bad sinners Luke 8:39-48. It's that simple, and we shouldn't make it more complex just so we can justify our little faith that produces less commitment to Christ.
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