NOT WORTH WHILE | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 24, 1887

NOT WORTH WHILE.

It seldom is worth while to insist upon uttering the last word in an argument or controversy. You may be, and know yourself to be, entirely right, and your opponent may exhibit a spirit at once unlovely and imprudent in persisting in the discussion, yet usually it is far wiser to allow him whatever semblance of victory there may be in the privilege of speaking the last word. The real aim of a Christian in such a case should be not to appear to get the better of an adversary, but to be right, to uphold the truth. If you have done this, you can afford to let your words lie in the memory of your opponent and every other person who has heard them, in the confidence that they probably will bear their appropriate fruit, while you will have avoided the appearance of wrangling.—Selected.