The Ideal Life
The ideal life is one that strives for greatness and nobility, regardless of circumstances, by staying true to high ideals and maintaining a sense of zeal and high desire.
Mary Wilder Tileston emphasizes the importance of heeding God's commandments to experience peace and righteousness abundantly. She warns against becoming desensitized to evil, complacent in one's comfort, and neglectful of pursuing high aims and great deeds. Tileston challenges the notion that only saints and enthusiasts possess the zeal for good works, suggesting that all individuals can keep the flame of zeal alive throughout their lives. She encourages living with high ideals as the key to a successful life, highlighting that striving for noble pursuits strengthens the soul.
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Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
--ISAIAH 48:18
IT is so easy to become more thick-skinned in con.science, more tolerant of evil, more hopeless of good, more careful of one's own comfort and one's own property, more self-satisfied in leaving high aims and great deeds to enthusiasts, and then to believe that one is growing older and wiser. And yet those high examples, those good works, those great triumphs over evil, which single hands effect sometimes, we are all grateful for, when they are done, whatever we may have said of the doing. But we speak of saints and enthusiasts for good, as if some special gifts were made to them in middle age which are withheld from other men. Is it not rather that some few souls keep alive the lamp of zeal and high desire which God lights for most of us while life is young?
--JULIANA HORATIA EWING
To live with a high ideal is a successful life. It is not what one does, but what one tries to do, that makes the soul strong and fit for a noble career.
--E. P. TENNEY
Sermon Outline
- The Ideal Life
- The Danger of Becoming Complacent
- The Importance of High Aims and Great Deeds
- Keeping the Lamp of Zeal Alive
- Maintaining a high ideal throughout life
- The importance of youth and enthusiasm
Key Quotes
“Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“To live with a high ideal is a successful life. It is not what one does, but what one tries to do, that makes the soul strong and fit for a noble career.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“Is it not rather that some few souls keep alive the lamp of zeal and high desire which God lights for most of us while life is young?” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- Strive to maintain a high ideal throughout your life, even in the face of challenges and setbacks.
- Remember that it is what you try to do, not just what you accomplish, that makes your soul strong and fit for a noble career.
- Stay focused on your goals and continue to strive for greatness, even as you grow older and wiser.