world, they do not
fit in with it; and between them and the world there will be strife and
contention until the renovation comes.

But the enemies that lie along the ways of life, that beset and threaten
even the most righteous paths of our pilgrimage, are not all from
without--the most numerous and menacing are perhaps from within. "The
enemies of a man," says the inspired writer, "are those of his own
household."(38) That is to say, the most potent evils which we suffer, the
chiefest foes to our present and future welfare are from ourselves--our own
waywardness, our tendencies to evil, our wilfulness, our self-love and
self-seeking, our own sins. It is from these and like causes that we
suffer most. Hard and trying it surely is to bear persecutions and
contradictions from others; severe is the strain to nature when, in the
face of our noblest efforts, proceeding from noblest motives, we meet with
misunderstanding and even condemnation; but to the upright, religious
heart that is sincerely and truly seeking God amid the shadows and
pitfalls of life, the sorest of all trials and the fiercest of all enemies
are one's own temptations and passions and inclinations to evil. Easier it
were to conquer the whole external world of foes, than to reign supreme
over the little world within. Of Alexander the Great it is said, that
while he actually subdued the whole known world of his time, he
nevertheless yielded in defeat before his own passions. He could overcome
his external enemies, but surrendered miserably in the battle with self.

This, then, is our greatest warfare, the struggle with ourselves; and this
our greatest victory, a triumph over self. "If each year," says the
Imitation, "we could uproot but one evil inclination, how soon we should
be perfect men!"(39) But it is not for us to be free from enemies and
perils, both from without and from within, during our earthly sojourn.
They are a part of our lot here below, they are necessarily bound up with
the darkened regions through which the Shepherd must lead his flock; and
hence, entire safety there shall never be before the journey's end, until
we say farewell to present woes, and hail "the happy fields, where joy
forever dwells."

In our present state, therefore, it is important for us to realize our
dangers and to be prepared for conflict. There is no way of escape from
crosses, and perils, and dreadful battles for all those who wish to win
the crown of victory. They