Nothing can equal in merit the offering of our sorrows to Him who saved us by his own.
265.
Dwell very little upon the mixture of self-love in your actions; we should pay no attention to these sallies of self. When we disavow them two or three times a day we have done all that is required. Nor must we violently resist them; a gentle denial is sufficient.
266.
The whole world is not worth a soul, and a soul is worth nothing without its resolutions. We need not be troubled because we are weak, if by trusting in the power and mercy of God we never lose courage; on the contrary, my daughter, I would rather be weak than strong before God, for He takes the weak in his arms, and the strong He leads by the hand.
267.
Believe me, we advance through stormy weather, and under a dark and cloudy sky. It is a better time for travellers than if the sun poured its ardent heat upon us. Courage! light and joy are not within our power, nor any consolation except that which depends upon the will; but while that will is protected by our holy resolutions, and as long as the great seal of the heavenly chancery remains upon our hearts, we have nothing to fear.
268.
Those who spiritually digest Jesus Christ feel that Jesus Christ who is their food is diffused through every part of soul and body. They have Jesus in their mind, in their heart, in their breast, in their eyes, in their hands, in their tongue, in their ears, in their feet. But what does this Saviour do in all these parts? He redresses, purifies, prunes, and vivifies all; the heart loves through Him, the mind understands through Him, the breast breathes through Him, the eyes see through Him, the tongue speaks through Him. Then we can say, “We live now, not we, but Christ Jesus liveth in us.” I show you to what we must aspire though we must be content to attain it by degrees.