| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 34 |
Page 5 |
Thus the religion of Christ teaches the most beautiful humility and courtesy. We are not too seek to be ministered unto, but to minister (see Matt.20:28; Mark 10:45); not to get distinction and praise, but to live humbly and quietly. Kossuth said that of all natural emblems, he would choose as the emblem for his life the dew. It makes no noise, seeks no praise, writes no record, but is content to sink away and be lost in the flowers and grass blades, and to be remembered only in the fresh beauty and sweetness it imparts to all nature. Those who always demand that they shall be recognized and that their names shall be attached to everything they do, have not learned the mind of Christ. Our aim should be to seek to have Christ honored, then to do good to others, and to be remembered only in the blessing and good which we leave in other lives. Jesus tells us, further, that those who look after their own honor shall fail to be honored, while those who live humbly, modestly, without seeking distinction or praise, shall receive the best promotions.
The last teaching of the passage is also very important. “Call the poor, the maimed, and the lame.” Mary Lyon used to say to her Mount Holyoke graduates, “Go where nobody else wants to go, and do what nobody else wants to do.” That is another version of the teaching of Jesus here. The rich have plenty of invitations — Christian love should seek to give pleasure to those who do not have much of it. If you are at a party, and there is one person present who seems to get no attention, that is the one whom, according to our Lord’s teaching here, you should be most interested in and should take particular pains to make happy. Among your neighbors are some who have many things to make up their enjoyment — friends, money, health, books, social opportunities. But there are others who lack in these regards. While you are to love all your neighbors, your love should show itself especially toward the latter class — those who have less and who need you more.
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