September 1

After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” — Neh 4:14 BSB

Everyone with a spark of honor in him will fight to the death for his family. We are all so connected that this motive really drives us in all our efforts for justice. We must care for the safety of the town we live in because our family is in it, and danger to the town is danger to us. We must ensure clean water, good sanitation, and safe streets because our children and friends live here.

The same applies to the moral and spiritual influences in our community; the well-being of our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, is at stake. A person might not care about the fight against destructive influences, but if we let those evils continue, they could eventually destroy their own family.

A notable man once spoke at the opening of a reformatory for boys and said that if only one boy was saved from ruin, it would be worth the entire cost. Afterward, someone asked if he hadn’t overstated it by saying it would be worth it to save just one boy. He replied, “If it were my boy!” It’s only when we start looking at efforts like these as if we were doing it for our own, that we do our best work.