"[T]he whole secret of our trouble is want of love to God. If we have it to Him, we shall find it impossible not to have it to others. I can say, for my part, that backbiting and envy were my delight, and even now often lead me astray, but, by dint of perseverance in prayer, God has given me the mastery to a great degree; I did not wish to give it up, so I besought Him to give me that wish; He did so, and then I had the promise of His fulfilment. I am sure this is our besetting sin; once overcome it, and there will be no cloud between God and ourselves. God is love—not full of love, but love itself. The law is love; possessed of love, we shall find our other temptations fall from us like scales. We are all dreadfully prone to evil-speaking, but God is all-powerful against it; it is opposed to His nature, so He hates it. I pray for those I most envy, and the feeling leaves me at once."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Letter to his sister, Augusta (12 June 1866), quoted in M. A. Gordon, Letters of General C. G. Gordon to His Sister (1888), p. 3
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_George_Gordon
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Charles George Gordon
29 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Charles George Gordon →
Related Quotes
"I have learned with equal pain and indignation that the Khedive and his subordinate officers have permitted the resus…"
"Some say that the people of Candahar desire our rule. I cannot think that any people like being governed by aliens in…"
"We may be sure that at Candahar the spirit which induced children to kill or to attempt to kill our soldiers in 1879,…"
"The judgments on this land [Egypt] are on account of its cruelties in respect to the slave trade."
"I dwell on the joy of never seeing Great Britain again, with its horrid, wearisome dinner parties and miseries. How w…"
"If the Mahdi has got the Bahr Gazelle, and we evacuate the Soudan in his favour, the Anti-Slavery Society may as well…"
"As for the slave trade, the Mahdi will be ten times worse than Zubair."
"General Gordon is one of our national treasures (cheers), and I do not think Her Majesty's Government had any right r…"
"What I then learned makes it necessary to considerably modify the earlier chapter dealing with the Gordon episode. I …"
"[N]o novels or worldly books come up to the Sermons of McCheyne or the Commentaries of Scott."