A Word About Temper

A Word about TEMPER

J. R. Miller, 1888

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

More than half of us are bad-tempered—at least an English social scientist tells us so. He claims that this is no mere general statement and no bit of guesswork; he gives us the figures for it. He arranged to have about two thousand people put unconsciously under espionage as to their ordinary temper, and then had careful reports made of the results. The calculations of the returns has been announced, and is decidedly unflattering to the two thousand tempers that were thus put to the test. More than half of these people—to be entirely accurate, 52 percent of them—are set down as bad-tempered in various degrees.

The dictionary has been well-near exhausted of adjectives of this order, in giving the different shades of bad-temper: aggressive, angry, bickering, bitter, capricious, choleric, contentious, crotchety, despotic, domineering, easily offended, gloomy, grumpy, hasty, huffy, irritable, morose, obstinate, reproachful, peevish, sulky, surly, vindictive—these are some of the qualifying words. There are employed, in all, 46 terms which describe a bad temper.

We do not like to believe that the case is quite so serious—that many of us are unamiable in some offensive degree. It is easier to confess our neighbor's faults and infirmities, than our own. So, therefore, quietly taking refuge for ourselves among the 48 percent of good-tempered people—we are willing to admit that a great many of the people we know, have at times rather ungentle tempers. They are easily provoked; they fly into a passion on very slight occasion; they are haughty, domineering, peevish, fretful or vindictive!

What is even worse, most of them appear to make no effort to grow out of their infirmities of disposition! The sour fruit does not come to mellow ripeness in the passing years; the roughness is not polished off the diamond to reveal its lustrous hidden beauty. The same petulance, pride, vanity, selfishness and other disagreeable qualities are found in the life, year after year! Where there is a struggle to overcome one's faults and grow out of them, and where the progress toward better and more beautiful spiritual character is perceptible, though ever so slow—we should have sympathy. But where one appears unconscious of one's blemishes, and manifests no desire to conquer one's faults—there is little ground for encouragement.

Man-like it is—to fall into sin.

Fiend-like it is—to dwell therein.

Saint-like it is—for sin to grieve.

God-like it is—for sin to leave.

Bad temper is such a disfigurement of character, and, besides, works such harm to one's self and to one's neighbors, that no one should spare any pains or cost to have it cured! The ideal Christian life is one of unbroken kindliness. It is dominated by love—the love whose portrait is drawn for us in the immortal thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." That is the picture of the ideal Christian life!

We have but to turn to the gospel pages—to find the story of a life in which all this was realized. Jesus never lost his temper. He lived among people who tried him at every point—some by their dullness, others by their bitter enmity and persecution—but he never failed in sweetness of disposition, in patience, in self-denying love. Like the flowers which give out their perfume only when crushed; like the odoriferous wood which bathes the axe which hews it with fragrance; the life of Christ yielded only the tenderer, sweeter love to the rough impact of men's harshness and wrong. That is the pattern on which we should strive to fashion our life and our character. Every outbreak of violent temper, every shade of ugliness in disposition, mars the radiant loveliness of the picture we are seeking to have fashioned in our souls! Whatever is not loving—is unlovely character.

There is another phase: bad-tempered people are continually hurting others, ofttimes their best and truest friends. Some people are sulky—and one person's sulkiness casts a chilling shadow over a whole household! Others are so sensitive, ever watching for slights and offended by the merest trifles—that even their nearest friends have no freedom of fellowship with them! Others are despotic, and will brook no kindly suggestion, nor listen to any expression of opinion! Others are so quarrelsome that even the meekest and gentlest person cannot live peaceably with them! Whatever may be the special characteristic of the bad temper, it makes only pain and humiliation for the person's friends!

A bad temper usually implies a sharp tongue. Sometimes, indeed, it makes one morose and glum. A brother and a sister living together are said often to have passed months without speaking to each other, though eating at the same table and sleeping under the same roof! A man recently died who for twelve years, it was said, had never spoken to his wife, though they continued to dwell together, and three times daily sat down together at the same table!

Bad temper sometimes runs to sullen silence. Such silence is not golden. Generally, however, a bad-tempered person has an unbridled tongue and speaks out his hateful feelings; and there is no limit to the pain and the harm which angry and ugly words can produce in gentle hearts!

It would be easy to extend this portrayal of the evils of bad temper—but it will be more profitable to inquire HOW a bad-tempered person may become good-tempered. There is no doubt that this happy change is possible in any case. There is no temper so obdurately bad—that it cannot be trained into sweetness. The grace of God can take the most unlovely life—and transform it into the image of Christ.

As in all moral changes, however, grace does not work independently of human volition and exertion. "I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me!" Colossians 1:29. God always works helpfully—with those who strive to reach Christlikeness. We must resist the devil—or he will not flee from us. We must struggle to obtain the victory over our own evil habits and dispositions, although it is only through Christ that we can be conquerors. He will not make us conquerors, unless weenter the battle. We have a share, and a large and necessary share, in the culture of our own character.

The bad-tempered man will never become good-tempered until he deliberately sets for himself the task, and enters resolutely and persistently upon its accomplishment. The transformation will never come of itself, even in a Christian! People do not grow out of ugly temper into sweet refinement—as a peach ripens from sourness into lusciousness.

Then the thing to be accomplished, is not the destroying of the temper; temper is a good quality in its place. The task is notdestruction—but control. A man is very weak—who has a strong temper without the power of self-control. Likewise is he weak—who has a weak temper. The truly strong man—is he who is strong in the element of temper—that is, has strong passions and feelings capable of great anger—and also has perfect self-control. When Moses failed and broke down in temper—in self-control, he was not the man to lead the people into the Promised Land; therefore God at once prepared to relieve him. The task to be set, therefore, in self-discipline is the gaining of complete mastery over every feeling and emotion, so as to be able to restrain every impulse to speak or to act unadvisedly.

We represent Christ in this world. People cannot see Him; they must look at us—to see a little of what He is like. Whatever great work we may do for Christ—if we fail to live out His life of love, kindness and patience—we fail in an essential part of our duty as Christians.

Nor can we be greatly useful in our personal life, while our daily conduct is stained by frequent outbursts of anger, and other exhibitions of bad temper. In the old fable, the spider goes about doing mischief wherever it creeps, while the bee by its wax and its honey, makes "sweetness and light" wherever it flies. We should be bees—rather than be spiders; living to turn darkness into light—and to put a little more sweetness into the life of all who know us. But only as our own lives shine in the brightness of holy love, and our hearts and lips distill the sweetness of patience and gentleness, can we fulfill our mission in this world—as Christ's true messengers to men.

Then there is need of a higher standard of character in this regard, than many people seem to set for themselves. We never rise higher than our ideals. The perfect beauty of Christ should ever be envisioned in our hearts—as that which we would attain for ourselves. The honor of our Master's name—should impel us to strive ever toward Christlikeness in spirit and in disposition.

In striving to overcome our impatience with others, it will help us to remember that we and they have the common heritage of a sinful nature. The thing in them which irritates us—is, no doubt, balanced by something in us which looks just as unlovely in their eyes and just as sorely tries their forbearance toward us!

Very likely, if we think our neighbors are hard to live peaceably with—they think about the same of us! And who shall tell in whom lies the greater degree of fault? Certain it is, that a really good-tempered person can rarely ever be drawn into a quarrel with anyone. He is resolutely determined that he will not be a partner in any unChristian strife. He would rather suffer wrongfully, than offer any retaliation. He has learned to bear—and to forbear. Then, by his gentle tact—he is able to conciliate any who are angry.

A fable relates that in the depth of a forest, there lived two foxes. One of them said to the other one day, in the politest of fox-language, "Let's quarrel!"

"Very well," said the other; "but how shall we go about it?"

They tried all sorts of ways—but in vain, for both would give way. At last, one fox brought two stones.

"There!" said he. "Now you say they are yours—and I'll say they are mine—and we will quarrel and fight and scratch! Now I'll begin.

"Those stones are mine!"

"All right!" answered the other fox, "you are welcome to them."

"But we shall never quarrel at this rate," replied the first.

"No, indeed, you old simpleton! Don't you know, that it takes two to make a quarrel?"

So the foxes gave up trying to quarrel, and never played at this silly game again.

The fable has its lesson for other creatures, besides foxes. "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you," Paul tells us, "we should live peaceably with all men."

A wise man says, "Every man takes care that his neighbors shall not cheat him—but a day comes when he begins to care—that he does not cheat his neighbors. Then all goes well." So long as a man sees only the quarrelsome temper of his neighbor—he is not far toward holiness. But when he has learned to watch and to try to control his own temper, and to weep over his own infirmities—he is on the way to Christ-likeness, and will soon be conqueror over his own weakness!

Life is too short to spend even one day of it in bickering and strife! Love is too sacred to be forever lacerated and torn by the ugly briers of sharp temper! Surely we ought to learn to be loving and patient with others—since God has to show every day such infinite patience toward us! Is not the very essence of true love—the spirit that is not easily provoked, that bears all things? Can we not, then, train our life to sweeter gentleness? Can we not learn to be touched even a little roughly, without resenting it? Can we not bear little injuries, and apparent injustices, without flying into a rage? Can we not have in us something of the mind of Christ, which will enable us, like him, to endure all wrong and injury and give back no word or look of bitterness? The way over which we and our friend walk together, is too short to be spent in wrangling.

Christian Love!

Christian Love!

J.C. Ryle, 1878

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love!" 1 Corinthians 13:13

"The end of the commandment is love." 1 Timothy 1:5

Love is rightly called "the Queen of Christian graces." It is a grace which all people profess to admire. It seems a plain practical thing which everybody can understand. It is none of "those troublesome doctrinal points" about which Christians are disagreed. Thousands, I suspect, would not be ashamed to tell you that they knew nothing about justification or regeneration, about the work of Christ or the Holy Spirit. But nobody, I believe, would like to say that he knew nothing about "love!" If men possess nothing else in religion, they always flatter themselves that they possess "love."

A few plain thoughts about love may not be without use. There are false notions abroad about it which require to be dispelled. There are mistakes about it which require to be rectified. In my admiration of love, I yield to none. But I am bold to say that in many minds, the whole subject seems completely misunderstood.

I. Let me show, firstly, the place which the Bible gives to love.

II. Let me show, secondly, what the love of the Bible really is.

III. Let me show, thirdly, where true love comes from.

IV. Let me show, lastly, why love is "the greatest" of the graces.

I ask the best attention of my readers to the subject. My heart's desire and prayer to God is, that the growth of love may be promoted in this sin-burdened world. In nothing does the fallen condition of man show itself so strongly, as in the scarcity of Christian love. There is little faith on earth, little hope, little knowledge of Divine things. But nothing, after all, is so scarce as real love!
 

I. Let me show the PLACE which the Bible gives to love.

I begin with this point in order to establish the immense practical importance of my subject. I do not forget that there are many high-flying Christians in this present day, who almost refuse to look at anything practical in Christianity. They can talk of nothing but two or three favorite doctrines. Now I want to remind my readers that the Bible contains much about practice as well as about doctrine, and that one thing to which it attaches great weight, is "love."

I turn to the New Testament, and ask men to observe what it says about love. In all religious inquiries there is nothing like letting the Scripture speak for itself. There is no surer way of finding out truth, than the old way of turning to plain texts. Texts were our Lord's weapons, both in answering Satan, and in arguing with the Jews. Texts are the guides we must never be ashamed to refer to in the present day. "What do the Scriptures say? What is written? How do you read?"

Let us hear what Paul says to the Corinthians: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love--I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love--I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love--I gain nothing!" 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Let us hear what Paul says to the Colossians: "Above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colossians 3:14.)

Let us hear what Paul says to Timothy: "The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart" (1 Timothy 1:5.)

Let us hear what Peter says: "Above all things, have fervent love among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8.)

Let us hear what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34, 35.)

Above all, let us read our Lord's account of the last judgment, and mark that lack of love will condemn millions. "Then He will say to those on the left: Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of Me." (Matthew 25:41-43.)

Let us hear what Paul says to the Romans: "Owe no man anything--but to love another: for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:9.)

Let us hear what Paul says to the Ephesians: "Walk is love, as Christ also has loved us." (Ephesians 5:2.)

Let us hear what John says: "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:7, 8.)

I shall make no comment upon these texts. I think it better to place them before my readers in their naked simplicity, and to let them speak for themselves. If anyone is disposed to think the subject of this paper a matter of light importance, I will only ask him to look at these texts, and to think again. He who would take down "love" from the high and holy place which it occupies in the Bible, and treat it as a matter of secondary consequence, must settle his account with God's Word. I certainly shall not waste time in arguing with him.

To my own mind, the evidence of these texts appears clear, plain, and incontrovertible. They show the immense importance of love, as one of the "things that accompany salvation." They prove that it has a right to demand the serious attention of all who call themselves Christians, and that those who despise the subject are only exposing their own ignorance of Scripture.
 

II. Let me show, secondly, WHAT the love of the Bible really is.

I think it of great importance to have clear views on this point. It is precisely here that mistakes about love begin. Thousands delude themselves with the idea that they have "love," when they have not, from downright ignorance of Scripture. Their love is not the love described in the Bible.

(a) The love of the Bible does not consist in giving to the poor. It is a common delusion to suppose that it does. Yet Paul tells us plainly, that a man may "bestow all his goods to feed the poor "(1 Corinthians 13:8)--and not have love! That a charitable man will "remember the poor," there can be no question. (Galatians 2:10.) That he will do all he can to assist them, relieve them, and lighten their burdens--I do not for a moment deny. All I say is, that this does not make up "love." It is easy to spend a fortune in giving away money, and soup, and milk, and and bread, and coals, and blankets, and clothing--and yet to be utterly destitute of Bible love!

(b) The love of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving anybody's conduct. Here is another very common delusion! Thousands pride themselves on never condemning others, or calling them wrong, whatever they may do. They convert the precept of our Lord, "do not judge," into an excuse for having no unfavorable opinion at all of anybody! They pervert His prohibition of rash and censorious judgments, into a prohibition of all judgment whatever.

Your neighbor may be a drunkard, a liar, and a violent man. Never mind! "It is not love," they tell you, "to pronounce him, wrong!" You are to believe that he has a good heart at the bottom! This idea of love is, unhappily, a very common one. It is full of mischief. To throw a veil over sin, and to refuse to call things by their right names, to talk of "hearts" being good, when "lives" are flatly wrong, to shut our eyes against wickedness, and say smooth things of immorality--this is not Scriptural love!

(c) The love of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving anybody's religious opinions. Here is another most serious and growing delusion. There are many who pride themselves on never pronouncing others mistaken, whatever views they may hold. Your neighbor may be an Atheist, or a Buddhist, or a Roman Catholic, or a Mormonite, a Deist, or a Skeptic, a mere Formalist, or a thorough Antinomian. But the "love" of many says that you have no right to think him wrong! "If he is sincere, it is uncharitable to think unfavorably of his spiritual condition!"

From such love--may I ever be delivered!

At this rate, the Apostles were wrong in going out to preach to the Gentiles!

At this rate, there is no use in missions!

At this rate, we had better close our Bibles, and shut up our churches!

At this rate, everybody is right--and nobody is wrong!

At this rate, everybody is going to Heaven--and nobody is going to Hell!

Such love is a monstrous caricature! To say that all are equally right in their opinions--though their opinions flatly contradict one another; to say that all are equally in the way to Heaven--though their doctrinal sentiments are as opposite as black and white--this is not Scriptural love. Love like this, pours contempt on the Bible, and talks as if God had not given us a written standard of truth. Love like this, confuses all our notions of Heaven, and would fill it with a discordant inharmonious rabble. True love does not think everybody right in doctrine. True love cries, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world!" 1 John 4:1. "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him!" 2 John 1:10

I leave the negative side of the question here. I have dwelt upon it at some length because of the days in which we live and the strange notions which abound. Let me now turn to the positive side. Having shown what love is not, let me now show what it is.

Christian love is that "love," which Paul places first among those fruits which the Spirit causes to be brought forth in the heart of a believer. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." (Galatians 5:22.)

Love to God, such as Adam had before the fall, is its first feature. He who has love, desires to love God with heart, and soul and mind, and strength.

Love to man is its second feature. He who has Christian love, desires to love his neighbor as himself.

Christian love will show itself in a believer's doings. It will make him ready to do kind acts to everyone within his reach, "both to their bodies and souls. It will not let him be content with soft words and kind wishes. It will make him diligent in doing all that lies in his power to lessen the sorrow and increase the happiness of others. Like his Master, he will care more for ministering than for being ministered to, and will look for nothing in return. Like his Master's great apostle, he will very willingly "spend and be spent" for others, even though they repay him with hatred, and not with love. True love does not want wages. Its work is its reward.

Christian love will show itself in a believer's readiness to bear evil as well as to do good. It will make him . . .
patient under provocation,
forgiving when injured,
meek when unjustly attacked,
quiet when slandered.

It will make him bear much and forbear much, put up with much and look over much, submit often and deny himself often--all for the sake of peace. It will make him put a strong bit on his temper, and a strong bridle on his tongue.

True love is not always asking, "What are my rights? Am I treated as I deserve?" but, "How can I best promote peace? How can I do that which is most edifying to others?"

Christian love will show itself in the general spirit and demeanor of a believer. It will make him kind, unselfish, good-natured, good-tempered, and considerate for others. It will make him gentle, affable, and courteous, in all the daily relations of private life. It will make him thoughtful for others' comfort, tender for others' feelings, and more anxious to give pleasure than to receive.

True love never envies others when they prosper, nor rejoices in the calamities of others when they are in trouble. At all times, it will believe, and hope, and try to put a good construction on others' actions. And even at the worst, it will be full of pity, mercy, and compassion.

Would we like to know where the true Pattern of love like this can be found? We have only to look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as described in the Gospels, and we shall see it perfectly exemplified. Love shone forth in all His doings. His daily life was an incessant "going about" doing good. Love shone forth in all His bearing. He was continually hated, persecuted, slandered, misrepresented. But He patiently endured it all. No angry word ever fell from His lips. No ill-temper ever appeared in His demeanor. "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats." (1 Peter 2:23.) Love shone forth in all His spirit and deportment. The law of kindness was ever on His lips. Among weak and ignorant disciples, among sick and sorrowful petitioners for help and relief, among publicans and sinners, among Pharisees and Sadducees--He was always one and the same--kind and patient to all.

And yet, be it remembered, our blessed Master never flattered sinners, or connived at sin. He never shrank from exposing wickedness in its true colors, or from rebuking those who would cleave to it. He never hesitated to denounce false doctrine, by whoever it might be held, or to exhibit false practice in its true colors, and the certain end to which it tends. He called things by their right names. He spoke as freely of Hell and the fire that is never quenched, as of Heaven and the kingdom of glory. He has left on record an everlasting proof that perfect love does not require us to approve everybody's life or opinions, and that it is quite possible to condemn false doctrine and wicked practice--and yet to be full of love at the same time.

I have now set before my readers the true nature of Christian love. I have given a slight and very brief account of what it is not, and what it is. I cannot pass on without suggesting two practical thoughts, which press home on my mind with weighty force, and I hope may press home on others.

Think, for a moment, how deplorably little love there is upon earth! How w conspicuous is the absence of true love among professing Christians! I speak not ofheathen now, I speak of professing Christians! What angry tempers, what passions, what selfishness, what bitter tongues--are to be found in private families! What strifes, what quarrels, what spitefulness, what malice, what revenge, what envy between neighbors and fellow-parishioners! What jealousies and contentions between Churchmen and Dissenters, Calvinists and Arminians, High Churchmen and Low Churchmen! "Where is love?" we may well ask, "Where is love? Where is the mind of Christ?"--when we look at the spirit which reigns in the world. No wonder that Christ's cause stands still, and infidelity abounds--when men's hearts know so little of love! Surely, we may well say, "When the Son of man comes, shall He find love upon earth?"

Think, for another thing, what a happy world this would be--if there was more love. It is the lack of love which causes half the misery which there is upon earth. Sickness, and death, and poverty, will not account for more than half the sorrows. The rest come from ill- temper, ill-nature, strifes, quarrels, lawsuits, malice, envy, revenge, frauds, violence, wars, and the like. It would be one great step towards doubling the happiness of mankind, and halving their sorrows--if all men and women were full of Scriptural love.
 

III. Let me show, thirdly--where the love of the Bible comes from.

Love, such as I have described, is certainly not natural to man. Naturally, we are all more or less selfish, envious, ill-tempered, spiteful, ill-natured, and unkind! We have only to observe children, when left to themselves, to see the proof of this. Let boys and girls grow up without proper training and education--and you will not see one of them possessing Christian love! Mark how some of them think first of themselves, and their own comfort and advantage! Mark how others are full of pride, passion, and evil tempers! How can we account for it? There is but one reply. The natural heart knows nothing of true love.

Christian love will never be found except in a heart prepared by the Holy Spirit. It is a tender plant, and will never grow except in one soil. You may as well expect grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles--as look for love when the heart is not right.

The heart in which love grows, is a heart changed, renewed, and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The image and likeness of God, which Adam lost at the fall, has been restored to it, however feeble and imperfect the restoration may appear. It is a "partaker of the Divine nature," by union with Christ and sonship to God; and one of the first features of that nature is love. (2 Peter I. 4.)

Such a heart is deeply convinced of sin--hates it, flees from it, and fights with it from day to day. And one of the prime motions of sin which it daily labors to overcome, is selfishness and lack of love.

Such a heart is deeply sensible of its mighty debt to our Lord Jesus Christ. It feels continually that it owes to Him who died for us on the cross, all its present comfort, hope, and peace. How can it show forth its gratitude? What can it render to its Redeemer? If it can do nothing else, it strives to be like Him, to drink into His spirit, to walk in His footsteps, and, like Him--to be full of love. "The love of Christ shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit" is the surest fountain of Christian love. Love will produce love.

I ask my reader's special attention to this point. It is one of great importance in the present day. There are many who profess to admire love--while they care nothing about vital Christianity. They like some of the fruits and results of the Gospel--but not the root from which these fruits alone can grow, or the doctrines with which they are inseparably connected.

Hundreds will praise love--who hate to be told of man's corruption, of the blood of Christ, and of the inward work of the Holy Spirit. Many a parent would like his children to grow up unselfish and good tempered--who would not be much pleased if conversion, and repentance, and faith, were pressed home on their attention.

Now I desire to protest against this notion, that you can have the fruits of Christianity, without the roots--that you can produce Christian tempers, without teaching Christian doctrines--that you can have love which will wear and endure, without grace in the heart.

I grant, most freely, that every now and then one sees a person who seems very charitable and amiable, without any distinctive Christian religion. But such cases are so rare and remarkable, that, like exceptions--they only prove the truth of the general rule. And often, too often, it may be feared in such cases the love is onlyapparent, and in private it completely fails. I firmly believe, as a general rule, you will not find such love as the Bible describes, except in the soil of a heart thoroughly imbued with Bible religion. Holy practice will not flourish without sound doctrine. What God has joined together, it is useless to expect to have separate.

The delusion which I am trying to combat, is helped forward to a most mischievous degree by the vast majority of novels, romances, and tales of fiction. Who does not know that the heroes and heroines of these works are constantly described as patterns of perfection? They are always doing the right thing, saying the right thing, and showing the right temper! They are always kind, and amiable, and unselfish, and forgiving! And yet you never hear a word about their religion! In short, to judge by the generality of works of fiction, it is possible to have . . .
excellent practical religion--without doctrine,
the fruits of the Spirit--without the grace of the Spirit,
and the mind of Christ--without union with Christ!

Here, in short, is the great danger of reading most novels, romances, and works of fiction. The greater part of them give a false or incorrect view of human nature. They paint their model men and women as they ought to be, and not as they really are. The readers of such writings get their minds filled with wrong conceptions of what the world is. Their notions of mankind become visionary and unreal. They are constantly looking for men and women such as they never meet--and expecting what they never find.

Let me entreat my readers, once for all, to draw their ideas of human nature from the Bible, and not from novels. Settle it down in your mind, that there cannot be true love without a heart renewed by grace. A certain degree of kindness, courtesy, amiability, good nature--may undoubtedly be seen in many who have no vital religion. But the glorious plant of Bible love, in all its fullness and perfection, will never be found without union with Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Teach this to your children, if you have any. Hold it up in schools, if you are connected with any. Lift up love. Make much of love. Give place to none in exalting the grace of kindness, love, good nature, unselfishness, good temper.

But never, never forget, that there is but one school in which these things can be thoroughly learned--and that is the school of Christ. Real love comes down from above. True love is the fruit of the Spirit. He who would have it--must sit at Christ's feet, and learn of Him.
 

IV. Let me show, lastly--why love is called the "greatest" of the graces.

The words of Paul, on this subject, are distinct and unmistakable. He winds up his wonderful chapter on love in the following manner: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love!" 1 Corinthians 13:13

This expression is very remarkable. Of all the writers in the New Testament, none, certainly, exalts "faith" so highly as Paul. The Epistles to the Romans and Galatians abound in sentences showing its vast importance. By faith, the sinner lays hold on Christ and is saved. Through faith, we are justified, and have peace with God. Yet here the same Paul speaks of something which is even greater than faith! He puts before us the three leading Christian graces, and pronounces the following judgment on them, "The greatest is love!" Such a sentence from such a writer demands special attention. What are we to understand, when we hear of love being greater than faith and hope?

We are not to suppose, for a moment, that love can atone for our sins, or make our peace with God. Nothing can do that for us, but the blood of Christ; and nothing can give us a saving interest in Christ's blood, but faith. It is Scriptural ignorance not to know this. The office of justifying and joining the soul to Christ, belongs tofaith alone. Our love, and all our other graces, are all more or less imperfect, and could not stand the severity of God's judgment. When we have done all--we are "unprofitable servants." (Luke 17:10.)

We are not to suppose that Christian love can exist independently of faith. Paul did not intend to set up one grace in rivalry to the other. He did not mean that one man might have faith, another hope, and another love--and that the best of these, was the man who had love. The three graces are inseparably joined together.Where there is faith, there will always be love; and where there is love, there will be faith. Sun and light, fire and heat, ice and cold, are not more intimately united than faith and love!

The reasons why love is called the greatest of the three graces, appear to me plain and simple. Let me show what they are.

(a) Love is called the greatest of graces, because it is the one in which there is some likeness between the believer and his God. God has no need of faith. He is dependent on no one. There is none superior to Him in whom He must trust. God has no need of hope. To Him all things are certain, whether past, present, or to come. But "God is love" and the more love His people have--the more similar they are to their Father in Heaven.

(b) Love, for another thing, is called the greatest of the graces, because it is most useful to others. Faith and hope, beyond doubt, however precious, have special reference to a believer's own private individual benefit. Faith unites the soul to Christ, brings peace with God, and opens the way to Heaven. Hope fills the soul with cheerful expectation of things to come, and, amid the many discouragements of things seen, comforts with visions of the things unseen.

But love is pre-eminently the grace which makes a man useful. It is the spring of good works and kindnesses. It is the root of missions, schools, and hospitals. Love made apostles spend and be spent for souls. Love raises up workers for Christ, and keeps them working. Love smooths quarrels, and stops strife--and in this sense, "covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8.) Love adorns Christianity, and recommends it to the world. A man may have real faith, and feel it--and yet his faith may be invisible to others. But a man's love cannot be hidden.

(c) Love, in the last place, is the greatest of the graces, because it is the one which endures the longest. In fact, it will never die. Faith will one day be swallowed up in sight--and hope in certainty. Their office will be useless in the morning of the resurrection; and, like old almanacs, they will be laid aside. But love will live on through the endless ages of eternity! Heaven will be the abode of love. The inhabitants of Heaven will be full of love. One common feeling will be in all their hearts, and that will be love.

I leave this part of my subject here, and pass on to a CONCLUSION. On each of the three points of comparison I have just named, between love and the other graces, it would be easy to enlarge. But time and space both forbid me to do so. If I have said enough to guard men against mistakes about the right meaning, of thegreatness of love--I am content. Love, be it ever remembered, cannot justify and put away our sins. It is neither Christ, nor faith.
But love makes us somewhat like God.
Love is of mighty use to the world.
Love will live and flourish when faith's work is done.
Surely, in these points of view--love well deserves the crown!

(1) And now let me ask every one into whose hands this paper may come a simple question. Let me press home on your conscience the whole subject of this paper. Do you know anything of the grace of which I have been speaking? Do you have Christian love?

The strong language of the Apostle Paul must surely convince you that the inquiry is not one that ought to be lightly put aside. The grace, without which that holy man could say, "I am nothing," the grace which the Lord Jesus says expressly is the great mark of being His disciple--such a grace as this, demands the serious consideration of every one who is in earnest about the salvation of his soul. It should set him thinking, "How does this affect me? Do I have Christian love?"

You have some knowledge, it may be, of religion. You know the difference between true and false doctrine. You can, perhaps, even quote texts, and defend the opinions you hold. But, remember the knowledge which is barren of practical results in life and temper--is a useless possession! The words of the Apostle are very plain: "If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge--but have not love, I am nothing!" (1 Corinthians 13:3.)

You think you have faith, perhaps. You trust you are one of God's elect, and rest in that. But surely you should remember that there is a faith of devils, which is utterly unprofitable--and that the faith of God's elect is a "faith which works by love." It was when Paul remembered the "love" of the Thessalonians, as well as their faith and hope, that he said, "I know your election of God." (1 Thessalonians 1:4.)

Look at your own daily life, both at home and abroad, and consider what place Christian love has in it. What is your temper? What are your ways of behavingtoward all around you in your own family? What is your manner of speaking, especially in seasons of vexation and provocation? Where is your good-nature, your courtesy, your patience, your meekness, your gentleness, your forbearance? Where are your practical actions of love in your dealing with others? What do you know of the mind of Him who "went about doing good"--who loved all, though specially His disciples--who returned good for evil, and kindness for hatred, and had a heart wide enough to feel for all?

What would you do in Heaven, I wonder, if you got there without love? What comfort could you have in an abode where love was the law, and selfishness and ill-nature completely shut out? Alas! I fear that Heaven would be no place for an uncharitable and ill-tempered man! A little boy said, "If grandfather goes to Heaven--I hope my brother and I will not go there." "Why do you say that?" he was asked. He replied, "If he sees us there, I am sure he will say, as he does now--'What are these boys doing here? Get them get out of the way!' He does not like to see us on earth, and I suppose he would not like to see us in Heaven!"

Give yourself no rest, until you know something by experience of real Christian love. Go and learn of Him who is meek and lowly of heart, and ask Him to teach you how to love. Ask the Lord Jesus to put His Spirit within you, to take away the old heart, to give you a new nature, to make you know something of His mind. Cry to Him night and day for grace, and give Him no rest until you feel something of what I have been describing in this paper. Happy indeed will your life be, when you really understand "walking in love."

(2) But I do not forget that I am writing to some who are not ignorant of the love of Scripture, and who long to feel more of it every year. I will give you two simple words of exhortation. They are these:

Practice love diligently. It is one of those graces, above all, which grow by constant exercise. Strive more and more to carry it into every little detail of daily life. Watch over your own tongue and temper throughout every hour of the day, and especially in your dealings with children and spouse. Remember the character of the excellent woman: "In her tongue is the law of kindness." (Proverbs 31:26.)

Remember the words of Paul: "Let ALL your things be done with love." (1 Corinthians 16:14.) Love should be seen in little things, as well as in great ones.

Remember, not least, the words of Peter: "Have fervent love among yourselves;" not a love which just keeps alight, but a burning shining fire, which all around can see! (1 Peter 4:8.) It may cost pains and trouble to keep these things in mind. There may be little encouragement from the example of others. But persevere. Love like this brings its own reward!

Finally, teach love to others. Press it continually on your children. Tell them the great duty of kindness, helpfulness, and considerateness, one for another. Remind them constantly that kindness, good nature, and good temper, are among the first evidences which Christ requires in children. If they cannot know much, or explain doctrines--they can understand love. A child's religion is worth very little if it only consists in repeating texts and hymns. As useful as they are, they are often . . .
learned without thought,
remembered without feeling,
repeated without consideration of their meaning,
and forgotten when childhood is gone!

By all means let children be taught texts and hymns; but let not such teaching be made everything in their religion. Teach them to keep their tempers, to be kind one to another, to be unselfish, good-natured, obliging, patient, gentle, forgiving. Tell them never to forget to their dying day, if they live as long as Methuselah, that without love, the Holy Spirit says, "we are nothing." Tell them "above all things--to put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colos. 3:14.)

Some Ways of Hiding The Light

Some Ways of Hiding the Light

J.R. Miller
 

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven!" Matthew 5:14-16

We are in this world to shine! Jesus told his disciples that they were the light of the world. He did not say that they were to carry lights, as one carries a lantern; he said they themselves should be lights.

He warned them also against HIDING their light — setting the lamp under a bed or under a bowl. He said the purpose of a lamp was to pour its light freely through the room! Every Christian life should be a light, shining to make the world a little brighter. Yet there are many people who allow their light to be hidden or obscured.

There is the covering of shyness which hinders the full shining of many lives. There are people who love Christ, but shrink from a public confession of him. Their feelings are too sacred to be revealed. No doubt there is a shyness of which we cannot speak. It is a proper enough reserve which shrinks from laying bare one's inner spiritual experiences. Still there is danger that shynessmay hide or obscure the light of Christian confession. We should see that the lamp is set out on the stand of a sincere confession, where it will shine undimmed for all about us.

True Christian life is love. We are taught to be long-suffering, to be patient, to love our enemies, to forgive those who have done anything against us, that when reviled we should not revile again, and that we should put away malice, anger and clamor, and be sweet-spirited. But some people hide this light of love under the sinful coverings of resentfulness, unforgiveness, bitterness. They are touchy and take offence easily. They hold grudges. They are not thoughtful. They are quick-tempered, hasty in speech, lacking affectionateness and sympathy. They may have a heart of love — but it seems as if there were surrounding it something which prevents the outflow of the love. We should let the light shine out to bless the world.

Another of the coverings which obscure the light of Christian life is egotism, self-conceit. The Christian religion teaches us to be modest and humble in our demeanor. We are not to insist upon always having our own way, not to think that none but we know anything well or can do anything in the right way. Yet sometimes we find a man, a professed Christian man, so full ofvanity that he considers no other one's opinion as of any account. He is upright, truthful, honorable, inflexible in his integrity — but the lamp of his good life is hidden under the bowl of an intolerable self-conceit. He treats other people and their suggestions almost with contempt. He is dictatorial and despotic, unable to co-operate in good work with others. Some magnificent men, with splendid powers, are rendered almost useless to their fellows by this offensive spirit. We should set the lamp of our life on a candlestick of self-forgetting humility.

Another of the bowls which some Christians put over their lamp is a fretful, complaining habit. Light is clear and white. Christian life in its divine beauty is all brightness. Peace and joy are essential characteristics of it and they should be in the life of every Christian. But some people cover this white, pure light with the habit of discontent. How many of us have allowed the spirit of worry to creep into our lives! How many of us allow ourselves to murmur and to find fault with almost everything in our lot! Such habits dim the shining of the light that should ray out from our lives. Fretfulness spoils spiritual beauty. Anxiety hides the light of peace. If only we would strip off these unfit coverings and let the light of Christ in us shine out, it would add tenfold to our influence as Christians. Even in life's sorest trials, the light of the lamp burning within should shine out undimmed.

Another covering which obscures the light in too many lives is the lack of courtesy. We do not realize how much of life's influence depends upon manners. There are those who are true Christians, honest, loyal to truth, liberal in giving, useful men. Yet in their manners they are so ungentle that they mar, oft-times almost destroy, their influence for good.

We need to study the are of living as to its manner, that the beauty in us may not be obscured. We need to train ourselves to thoughtfulness, kindliness, sweet Christian courtesy and affectionateness in our bearing toward all. Our manners should be the interpretation of our Christian life. Perhaps we may say in excuse for lack of refined courtesy, that our heart is better than our manners; if so, how will people know that it is? If our manners are lacking in gentleness and sweetness, we are hiding our light under a bowl, and it is not shining out clearly to bless the world.

These are some of the coverings which too often obscure the light of Christian life. If these seem little things, mere faults of manner or expression, it should be remembered that far more than we are aware are our lives hurt in their influence by what we call little things. Those who see us and judge of our characters, cannot look into hearts to behold the bright light that is bur there under all its obscuring; they must judge us from what shines out. We must take care therefore, that nothing shall hide or dim the brightness of our lamp's shining. We must express ever in our disposition and our conduct, all our behavior and bearing, the peace that is in us, letting the Christ within shine out in undimmed radiance, if we would fitly honor our Lord.

What God Thinks of Us

What God Thinks of Us

J. R. Miller, 1909

One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves, is what God thinks of us.

One has pointed out that in every man, there are four different men:

the man whom the neighbors see,

the man whom one's family sees,

the man whom the person himself sees,

and the man whom God sees.

The community knows us only in a general way, superficially. What people think of us we sometimes call 'reputation'—what we are reputed to be. It is a composite made up of all that people know about us, gathered from our conduct, our acts, our dispositions, our words, the impressions of ourselves we give to others. A man becomes known, for example, as honest, because he pays his debts, never defrauds another, never fails in any financial obligation. Men learn to know that he can be depended upon. They say his word is as good as his oath, his simplest promise as good as his bond. Or, he gets the reputation of not paying his debts, of not meeting his obligations, of not being dependable in financial ways. One man through years of life becomes known as generous, kind, liberal, faithful in his friendships, obliging, self-denying, charitable. Another wins the reputation of being stingy, mean, grasping, miserly.

Thus the knowledge the community has of a man is only superficial. It is evident that the world's opinion about people is not infallible, is not complete, is not final. A person may be better than his reputation; his external manner may do him injustice. Some men, by reason of their shyness, their awkwardness, or some limitation in power of expression, fail to appear at their true value. The world knows only a man's outward life, and there may be good things in him which it does not know.

Then some people, on the other hand, are not as good as their reputation. Their photograph flatters them. What they pretend to be—exceeds the reality. They practice tricks which give a glamour to their lives, so that they pass in public for more than they are. They wear veils, which hide defects and faults in them, and thus they seem better than they are. Hence we cannot accept the judgment of the community, regarding anyone as absolutely true, fair, and final.

There is another photograph—what our intimate friends and family think of us. They know us better than the people of the community do. They understand us better. They see us with love's eyes, without prejudice. They know the good things in us, which only close association could bring to light. They saw us in some times of sore testing, when we showed ourselves true and faithful under difficulty or at great cost.

A woman who had been married a little more than a year wrote to a friend, "I thought I knew my husband perfectly before I married him—but I did not—I did not half know him. He had faults of which I never dreamed—-I thought he was perfect—but he was not. Then the year has also shown in him constant new revealings of beautiful and noble qualities, of which I had no conception. I knew he was good—but I did not know the thousandth part of the goodness I am now discovering in him."

Those who know us intimately find the worst in us, of course—but they also find the best. Friends ought to learn to be very patient with each other. We may not always expect our mere neighbors to look upon our faults graciously, with tolerance—but we have a right to expect our close friends to deal leniently with us. "Love is patient," says Paul, "and is kind." Especially in the sacred life of the home—should love be patient and not judge harshly.

In an English religious paper which has a department for questions and answers, this appeared:

"I live with a brother and a sister, both of full age. But we do not lead the happy life we should live. My sister has got into the habit of thinking that pretenses, subterfuges, prevarications, are not lies in God's sight, and that fidelities in common things are of little account. I get so impatient with her. Yet I do not know but my impatience with her is as bad in God's sight—as the faults I see in her. Should I just be quiet when I see it all, and leave it to God? How, then, can we have sisterly communion with this barrier between us?"

Surely this is not the best that the grace of God and the love of Christ can do or ought to do with Christian lives in the sacredness of the home. To be Christians, ought to bring us so close together that we shall never judge each other any more. Instead of one sister seeing great blots and flaws in the other—all should have that inexhaustible love which sees its ownimperfections—but sees only the good things in the other. In the closeness of the home relationships, it is easy to discover faults and criticize each other. It is easy to overlook the good and the beautiful, when defects are so manifest. But the very essence of love—is to cover up mistakes and shortcomings in others, and to see everything in the light of patience and forbearance.

Even in ordinary relations with others, a loving nature should always look for the good—and overlook the blemishes. An emperor had an ugly scar on one cheek—and the artist who painted his picture so posed the emperor that the scar was not seen. So should we treat our friend, or even our neighbor. But especially at home, which is to be love's garden, should the flaws be veiled—and the lovely things be brought out in full light.

Whatever the world's judgment upon men may be, is it not time that the friends of Christ should cease to deal unfairly, unjustly, unrighteously with each other? Yet the judgment of even the truest, closest friends is not final.

There is a third tribunal—our own conscience. There is the man WE ourselves see. Paul could say, "I know nothing against myself." That was a great thing for him to say. Many of us do know things against ourselves, things that others do not know. We are conscious of faults, which even our nearest friends do not see in us. When others are praising us for something we have done—we know that it is over-praise they are giving us. We are not as good as those who love us think we are. Few of us would like to see our thoughts written out on a white page, to be read of all men. We are aware of evil in ourselves that others, even those who know most of us, do not suspect.

On the other hand, when people blame us, say evil things of us, charge us with doing wrong—it is a comfort for us to know in our own hearts, that the things they say are not true. It gives peace to our spirits to be able to say we know nothing against ourselves.

But there is another man in us—the man GOD sees. And this is most important of all. We do not know all the secret things of our own hearts. There is an Eye that sees deeper than ours! We may claim to be without fault—but we must know what God has to say. Paul says, "I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he who judges me is the Lord." Evenconscience may err. Paul knew this by terrible experience. It is before God—that we are really living our life. It is pleasant to have people commend us, when we have tried to do our duty. It gives us great joy to have the approval of our own hearts. But if we do not have the commendation of the Master, human praise and self-approval amount to nothing. "What does God think of you?" is always the final question.

Someone may say that since God is so holy, and sees into the depths of our being, and perceives every blemish—it is impossible for us to win his commendation. But as holy as he is—God is also merciful, gracious and compassionate. He accepts our service not for itself—but for what it means in the way of desire and intention.

It is easier to live for the eye of God—than for the eye of man. David, when the Lord gave him the choice of three penalties after he had sinned in numbering the people—seven years of famine, three months flight before his enemies in war, or three days pestilence; answered, "Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand ofman."

Men are cruel. They judge often harshly. They know only part of the truth concerning us. They are not patient with our infirmities. But we are safe in the hands of God. He knows the worst in us, and our deeds—but he also knows the best.

Christ has been tempted in all points as we are, and has suffered, being tempted; he understands, therefore, the power of temptation and can pity us in our weakness and faintness. He knows when our repentance is true, and when we really love him—though we have so grievously sinned. Peter, when the question was put to him after his fall, "Peter, do you love me?" could make his appeal to his Master's infinite knowledge: "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." We may safely make our plea before God himself, rather than before man.

We may trust our lives, therefore, to God's judgment, even if they are full of defects and flaws. He knows all, and will bring to light all the hidden things.

Many of the most beautiful ministries of love, are hidden. We scarcely know that we are of any use in the world. We sometimes think that when the King comes–that he will have no reward for us–that we have done so little for him. We do not begin to know how many lovely things we have done. We have wrought humbly, quietly, obscurely. We sometimes think our efforts have failed—we do not see the harvest—but some day all these hidden things will be brought to light—our dreams of good which have missed fulfillment, the things we wanted to do—and were not able to accomplish, the kindnesses shown to people almost unconsciously. Not one of these things is lost! The Master will say to this and that lowly one, in the great day of revealing, "I was hungry—and you fed me."

Paul assures us of praise from God. "Then shall each man have his praise from God." Think of having God praise you, "Come, you who are blessed of my Father. You have been faithful."

There are some faithful Christians who do not often get a word of praise from human lips for what they do. They hardly ever hear a sentence of commendation. Nobody ever brings them a rose. Nobody tells them they are doing good in the world. In their own lowly way, they make countless lives better and happier, their burdens lighter, and yet they rarely ever hear a "Thank you." It will be very sweet, in the day of revealing, for these plain, humble ones who give out their lives in love, and scarcely know they are doing anything for Christ—it will be very sweet, when, before all the universe, the secret things they have done shall be brought out and they shall receive their praise from God!