The first thing is, to find out what a good heart is, and what a bad heart is; and the best way to do this, is carefully to read the account given of Jesus Christ in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are no pages like these, so full of instruction, and that so readily impart their meaning to the soul of the reader. They give us a portrait of our Savior,—and what a portrait! How humble, yet how majestic! how mild, yet how dignified! how simple, yet how beautiful! He is represented as full of love toward God, and toward mankind; as going about doing good; as having a tender and kind feeling for every human being; as healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and pouring the music of sound upon the deaf ear. Love to God, which teaches us to love all mankind, evidently fills the heart of Jesus Christ; and his great desire seems to be, that all mankind shall have hearts filled with the same feeling that governs his. A good heart, then, is one like Christ’s; a bad heart is one that is unlike Christ’s. A good heart is one that is habitually exercised by love to God and charity to man; a bad heart is one that is exercised by selfishness, covetousness, anger, revenge, greediness, envy, suspicion, or malice.
Having learned what is meant by a good and bad heart, the next thing is to look into our own breasts and see what kind of a heart we have got. This is of first-rate importance, and therefore it is that I ask the question at the head of this article—“What sort of heart have you got, Reader?”
Having, by careful examination, found out what sort of a heart you have got, then you are prepared to act with good effect. If you find that you have a good heart, a heart like Christ’s, filled with love of God and feelings of obedience to God, and with love and charity to all mankind, evinced by a desire to promote the peace and happiness of all; then be thankful for this best of gifts, and pray Heaven that it may continue to be yours. An immortal spirit, with the principle of goodness in it, is yours—and how great a benediction is that!
But if you discover that you have a bad heart, pray set about curing it as soon as possible. An immortal spirit with a principle of badness in it, is surely a thing to be dreaded; and yet this is your condition, if you have a bad heart. In such a case, repentance is the first step for you to take. Sorrow—sincere sorrow, is the easy condition upon which past errors are forgiven by God; yet this condition must be complied with. There is no forgiveness without repentance, because there is no amendment without it. Repentance implies aversion to sin, and it is because the penitent hates sin, that the record of his wrongs is blotted out. While he loves sin, all his crimes, all his transgressions must stand written down and remembered against him, because he says that he likes them; he vindicates, he approves of them. Oh take good care, kind and gentle reader—take good care to blot out the long account of your errors, before God, speedily! Do not, by still loving sin, say to God that you are willing to have those that you have committed, and those you may commit, brought up in judgment against you! Draw black lines around the record of your transgressions, by repentance!
And having thus begun right, continue to go on right. At first, the task may be difficult. To break in a bad heart to habits of goodness, is like breaking a wild colt to the saddle or harness: it resists; it rears up; it kicks; it spurns the bit; it seeks to run free and loose, as nature and impulse dictate, and as it has been wont to do before. But master it once, and teach it to go in the path, and it will soon be its habit, its pleasure, its easy and chosen way to continue in the path.
To aid you in this process of making a good heart out of a bad one, study the Bible, and especially that which records the life and paints the portrait of Christ. Imitate, humbly, but reverently and devoutly, his example. Drink at the fountain at which he drank, the overflowing river of love to God.
This is the way to keep the spark of goodness in the heart; and to cherish this, to keep it bright, exercise yourself as much as possible in good deeds, in good thoughts, in good feelings. If a bad thought comes into your heart, turn him out—he has now no business there! Turn him out as you would a rat from the larder. Keep your hearts pure before God, for God looketh on the heart!
It is my purpose to follow up this subject hereafter, and to tell you some tales which will show you more clearly how to make a good heart out of a bad one.
Professions and Trades.
People live by working for money in order to get food, clothes, houses, and all the other things which they need or would like to have. If they should not work, all the food that has already been produced would soon be eaten up, all the clothes would be worn out, and everything else would decay; so that the inhabitants of towns, and also those of the country, would be starved, and die very miserably.