And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you . . . : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Luke 22:31, 32.

These words were spoken by our Lord to Peter by way of caution and also encouragement. The counsel opens with Satan's plan for Peter's life and Christ's purpose to have him stand firm. With characteristic promptness, Peter assures Jesus he is ready to go with Him both to prison and to death. Then come the key words: "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

We cannot communicate to others what we do not have ourselves. In proportion to our firmness in Christ, to the degree of our self-control and Christian character, does the responsibility lie upon us to strengthen those around us. Joseph was taken as a slave into Egypt. His stand before the court of Pharaoh was a preparation for the coming of his father and brethren and their own destiny.

Moral greatness never appears so magnificent as when it keeps others from falling, when it inspires them to take the same stand. Young people who follow in the footsteps of Joseph, Daniel, Moses, and Paul, amid the downward moral trend of our times, are more majestic in the sight of heaven than all the cathedrals of the world. We have every reason to be converted to Christ.

Every sound has an echo. Every light has a shadow. Every act we do, every word we speak, every thought we think, effects consequences upon others, as well as upon ourselves. Refuse to take one step that will weaken another's character. Nothing pays off so miserably as that which weakens and destroys another person morally and spiritually.

Are we Christians salt? Then it's ours to give the savor of life. Are we light? It is that others may be lightened. Are we converted to Christ? It is that we might communicate spiritual and moral strength to others. Have we been lifted up from the miry clay of sin and our feet established upon the Rock, Christ Jesus? It is to enable others to do the same. A man converted to Christ is different. The most illustrious names of history are not of the rich or the learned, but of those morally and spiritually like Christ.