How our resolution to give ourselves over to God ought to be constituted.

The Seventy-Ninth Letter.

How our resolution to give ourselves over to God ought to be constituted.

Beloved [woman] friend!

It is so good that you take yourself a resolution in the morning to be faithful to God. As soon as we awake in the morning, we ought to call to mind the glorious and loving presence of God, and to give our heart, our will, and our very selves wholly to the Lord as a morning-offering, in an inward and hearty way — even if it should happen without words: only that it not happen without devotion, and with the resolve to remain, this day and unto all eternity, wholly God's, and only to be and to live for Him. O how pleasing is such a heart-offering to the dear God! And how mighty it is toward your sanctification! Yea, you would soon be holy, could you but heartily abide therein — but here it may well be lacking. Perhaps you give yourself to the Lord not yet heartily enough; perhaps you give yourself only in general, and not wholly enough, nor in everything; perhaps you give yourself only so far as to want to guard against sins and behave blamelessly outwardly, which is indeed good, but not enough. You must give Him your whole will, your whole heart, your dearest and your best.

Perhaps you do it too hastily and superficially: one must stand still a little over it with one's heart-devotion; it must be so rightly meant, and go from the heart, even if one had to suffer, against one's will, many distractions. Perhaps you also do it not enough with a hearty trust and childlike turning to God, who so gladly would have you for His own possession. Since, then, in such a way your giving-over to God and your resolution are not hearty enough, neither can both be lasting.

When you have given yourself over to God in the morning, and taken a good resolution, you must not think: Now is your service of God ended, and you would now go to your household business and turn with your devotion to outward things. Ah! then it is no wonder that you are estranged from God and drawn into all manner of distractions. If our good resolution is to have permanence, we must learn well to abide with God and in God, and strive to keep the devotion we have perhaps had in prayer; for in God is our strength.

And through this remaining-near to God in your heart you must let yourself be kept from all needless seeing, hearing, and speaking. Do you not know that you belong wholly to God? You may not speak one word but that you must, as it were, look to God whether He too would have it — because you are still so weak. Take heed that you speak of outward things only what is needful; let people think what they will.

That so many corruptions show themselves in you does not surprise me, and it need not surprise you either. There are yet far more abominations in us that we do not yet know, and it is God's grace when we learn rightly to perceive our own peculiarities: only this is not good, when you remain ever standing at the sight of your miseries, and let yourself thereby be made too fainthearted, or even held back from prayer and from God — whereas our deepest corruption ought rather to drive us to God, to be bettered.

It is also quite a wrong conclusion: that because you are so evil, God cannot be gracious to you. Whence, then, would you fetch the good that should move God to be gracious to you? Are you yet so foolish as to want to bring the Lord something good into account, which you nevertheless have not without His grace? God is gracious to the evil children for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, and not only forgives them their sins, but will also take away their evil heart, and make them right good — if only they come to Him with their evil. Only let all evil be an abhorrence to you; turn yourself sincerely away from it, and flee to God, who can and will help you; think more on God than on your miseries, and you will at last find the sure redemption.

See how much I have written you; whereby you can mark how gladly I would see you become upright and godly. So be now faithful unto death, that Jesus may give you the crown of life, which heartily grants and wishes

Your weak fellow-combatant.

P. S. As often as we, with our love, longing, and heart-devotion, turn ourselves sincerely and childlike to God, and so hold ourselves in faith before His presence — behold! then we go to church, and perform our service of God solemnly.

Jesus, Jesus, nothing but Jesus. Amen!

The sweetest life, the best that is, Is still to cleave to God in love; From all things loosed, and turned within, Acquainted but with eternity. With God, deep in your soul's own ground, There dwell, and grow familiar with God. Whoever this wide palace found, To him the world must be a prison.

German

Der neunundsiebzigste Brief.

Wie unser Vorsatz, sich an GOtt zu übergeben, müsse beschaffen seyn.

Geliebte Freundin!

Es ist so gut, daß du dir des Morgens einen Vorsatz nimmst, GOtt getreu zu seyn. Sobald wir des Morgens erwachen, sollen wir uns der herrlichen und liebreichen Gegenwart GOttes erinnern, und unser Herz, unsern Willen, und uns selber ganz dem HErrn zum Morgen-Opfer schenken auf eine innige und herzliche Weise …

— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.

German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).