Editorial February 24, 1940 Issue

The Special Demand of the Hour

Duncan Sinclair

It is deeply interesting and instructive, in the study of the New Testament, to note the stress which is laid upon love by Christ Jesus and the apostles. Thus, Jesus said (John 13:34), "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another;" and John wrote (I John 3:14, 18): "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. ... My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth;" while Paul told the Galatians (5:14) that "all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

No one who reads these passages of Scriptures thoughtfully can fail to apprehend their meaning—the fact that they place love in the very forefront of spiritual qualities. Jesus commanded men to love one another, as he had loved them. John implored them to do so "in deed and in truth." Paul declared that love actually fulfills the law. It would be difficult to formulate a stronger appeal for what undoubtedly is the highest motivating and directing power in the ken of mankind.

Why should mankind be shy of the word "love"? Why should they fail, as they often do, to face its spiritual import, get to understand its meaning, be convinced of its value, and strive to reflect it in their lives? Perhaps because it has been so much misunderstood. Perhaps it is because it has been so frequently debased by many who have used it as an excuse for libertinism. However that may be, to the great majority of the human race love is and always will be "the greatest thing in the world," as Henry Drummond said of it, the greatest power in the world for good, for comfort, for healing, for salvation.

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