Saturday, June 25, 2011

Making a Difference - Wilberforce


Wilberforce was a member of the British House of Commons in 1785. After trusting Christ as his Saviour, he became concerned about how he should serve the Lord as a political leader. He became burdened about seeing slavery abolished in England. Ending slavery would be no easy task. Slavery had long been a part of English tradition. Wilberforce began to campaign for legislation to restrict and then outlaw slavery. His speeches and motions in Parliament met with a great deal of opposition. 

For 20 years, the battle continued in Parliament. Wilberforce had to take his case to the public. He had to endure criticism and repeated attempts to blacken his reputation. He was mocked as the leader of a hopeless cause, but, after 20 years of campaigning, the English Parliament finally outlawed slavery, setting an entirely new public moral tone in England. In the United States 600,000 people had to die in a bloody Civil War to accomplish the same purpose.

Wilberforce was just one man but he made a huge difference to many lives. It brings to mind the famous quote from Edward Everett Hale, “I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do”.  You are one person that can make a difference today.

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