9. Be therefore courageous, O Man, and endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ! 2 Tim. 2:3. An evil habit of mind must be overcome with a good one. It is the apostle’s exhortation: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom. 12:21. The cure of thy soul is not impossible. View, in the first place, thy own corruptions, and judge them severely, before thou presumest to censure the faults of thy neighbor. Be not too forward in admonishing and correcting others; but endeavor to heal first thy evils at home, before thou enterest upon the reforming of those that are abroad. 10. Go on, therefore, O Christian, and learn the lesson of daily repentance, sorrow, and contrition of heart. If the world despise thee upon that account, and decry this wholesome exercise as error and as melancholy, be not concerned at such poor and empty reflections. Grieve rather that thou art called indeed a Christian, but that thou hast not yet arrived at that strictness of life and purity of manners, which the Gospel requires. Bear the contempt of the world with Christian constancy, and consider the singular benefit which thence accrues to the whole practice of true religion. For, if thou be scorned by the world, then God is ready to support thee by fresh supplies of life and comfort, according to his own declaration: “I dwell in the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa. 57:15. 11. It is impossible that divine and worldly joy should, at one and the same time, reside in the heart of man; so very contrary are they to each other, and so inconsistent in their natures, causes, and effects. The joy of the world is begotten in prosperity; but that which is from heaven, springs up in the midst of crosses and adversities. 12. It is true that it is against the bent of nature to rejoice in the time of adversity, as the apostle himself seems to intimate: “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” 2 Cor. 6:10. But then it is no less true, that the grace of God cleanses our nature, and qualifies it for such spiritual exercises. And it was after this change that the apostles rejoiced, because they were “counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ.” Acts 5:41.