| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 22 |
Page 2 |
This puts upon us a serious responsibility as churches and as individual Christians. We dare not be contentious, quarrelsome, biting and devouring one another. The world would then laugh at our profession that we are a company of the friends of Christ. When a man joins a church he assumes the obligation of love. He says, “I will love my fellow Christians as Christ loves me.” What does he mean? Does he mean that he will love the gentle, agreeable, congenial, refined members; those who show him a great deal of honor, those who are kind to him, sympathetic, eager to favor and help him? He must love these. But suppose there are among the members some who are not congenial, not obliging, who do not show him deference, whose lives are not lovely — does he have to love these? “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have loved one to another.” There do not seem to be any exceptions. How was it with the first disciples? Were they all of the loveable kind? John was. He must have been sweet-spirited, good-tempered, and affectionate. But how about Peter, Matthew, Andrew, Thomas? Were they all loveable? One of them had treason in his heart. Another denied Jesus. All of them forsook Him in the hour of His great need and sorrow. Yet, how did Jesus love these? He loved on, He loved to the end. How are we to love our fellow Christians? As Christ loves us.
What would be the effect if all Christian people, all who belong to Christian churches, would begin to love one another as Christ loved His first disciples, as He loves every one of us? Paul tells us how true Christian love acts, how it shows itself. It is in personal contacts and association. “Love suffereth long, and is kind” (see 1 Cor. 13:4). That is, it bears patiently with others’ faults, unkindnesses, ill-treatment, ingratitude, and is kind. It keeps on being kind in spite of all the unkindness it receives. It is kindness that we need always to show — just the art of being kind is all this old world needs — and it must always be kept in our lives. The trouble is, however, that with too many of us our kindness is spasmodic, is shown only when we feel like it and checked continually by things that happen. Nothing ever stopped Christ’s kindness — nothing ever should stop a Christian’s kindness. Love in the heart should flow out in the life as an unintermittent stream.
Page 2