Daily Reading for August 13 • Jeremy Taylor, 1667

It is probable our hearts are right with God, and our intentions innocent and pious, if we set upon actions of religion or civil life with an affection proportionate to the quality of the work; that we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity; and that in actions of religion, we be zealous, active, and operative, so far as prudence will permit; but in all cases, that we value a religious design before a temporal, when otherwise they are in equal order to the several ends: that is, that whatsoever is necessary in order to our soul’s health be higher esteemed, than what is for bodily; and the indispensable necessities, of the spirit, be served before the needs of nature; or plainer yet, when we choose any temporal inconvenience, rather than commit a sin, and when we choose to do a duty, rather than to get gain.

From Holy Living and Dying With Prayers: Containing the Complete Duty of A Christian by Jeremy Taylor (Thomas Wardle, 1835).