Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5.

The prayer that Christ has given us, that the will of God shall be done in earth as it is in heaven, is to be answered. Wonderful is this prayer, which we are to offer to God, and then fulfill in the daily life! The science of holiness, the ethics that the gospel inculcates, acknowledge no standard but the perfection of God’s mind, God’s will. It is the character and mind of Christ which, by conversion and transformation, men are to receive. Through His Son, God has revealed the excellency to which man is capable of attaining. And before the world God is developing us as living witnesses of what man may become through the grace of Christ. Oh, why do so many grieve the heart of infinite love? …

God permits every person to exercise his individuality. No human mind should be submerged in another human mind. But the invitation has been given, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Each person is to stand before God with an individual faith, an individual experience, knowing for himself that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. For us to imitate the example of any man—even a person who in our human judgment we might regard as nearly perfect in character—would be to put our trust in an imperfect, defective human being, who is unable to impart one jot or tittle of perfection to any other human being.

As our pattern we have One who is all and in all, the chiefest among ten thousand, One whose excellency is beyond comparison. What saith the Divine Teacher?—“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. Would Christ tantalize us by requiring of us an impossibility?—Never, never! What an honor He confers upon us, in urging us to be holy in our sphere, as the Father is holy in His sphere. And through His power we are able to do this; for He declares, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18. This unlimited power it is your privilege and mine to claim.^{29Letter 20, 1902.}