Scougal: The Worth of a Soul

The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love.

The images of these [noble and well-placed loves] do frequently present themselves unto the mind, and by a secret force and energy insinuate into the very constitution of the soul, and mold and fashion it into their own likeness: hence we may see how easily lovers and friends do slide into the imitation of the persons whom they affect . . .

--Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man (Christian Focus, 1996; repr.), 68. Scougal was professor of divinity at Aberdeen till his death in 1678 at age 28 of tuberculosis. This little book was a letter he wrote to a depressed friend in 1677. A century later, John Wesley sent a copy of the letter to a friend of his named George Whitefield. Whitefield later said that this letter was instrumental in his conversion--'I never knew what true religion was till God sent me this excellent treatise.'

The first sentence in the above quote is worth the price of the book. What do you love? That's what you will eventually look like.