Signs of the Times

Topic: Christian Love

["Pathfinder," in the Southern Weekly News, Brighton, Sussex, England]

We are accustomed to think of justice as stern and harsh and unbending, while we look upon mercy as soft and gentle and yielding. But Milton was probably right when he suggested that the essential qualities of justice and mercy are most fully displayed when both are present together, fused into one harmonious whole. When they are fused into one harmonious whole we get something which is stronger than strict justice, and more tender than pure mercy—something which is best described as "Christian love."

What is meant by "Christian love" has been explained in immortal words by St. Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians. It is something which suffereth long and is kind; something which is not easily provoked; something which believeth and hopeth and endureth and never faileth. In short, it is the very thing that the world today needs, and needs most desperately.

Love is the most wonderful thing in the world, and without it the world would perish. ...

But human love, even in its best and purest forms, falls short of the standard of the love that St. Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians. Human love, as it is manifested in the love of man for woman or in the love of parent for child, often shows traces of sentimental weakness. Human love causes a mother to idolize her son. ...

If we are thinking of human love, everyday experience affords ample confirmation of the truth of the proverb, "Love is blind." But Christian love, which is the love of which St. Paul was thinking, is different. Christian love is not blind. ...

We believe that God's dealings with us are characterized by love of that sort. He is our heavenly Father, and He loves us as His children. ...

God is Love, but His love is on a higher level than ours, and in it there is no opposition between justice and mercy. The absoluteness of His justice is made manifest by the perfection of His mercy, and both, taken together, enter into the composition of the reward of our labors.

[From the Journal-Herald, Dayton, Ohio]

Through praise of God we find ourselves approaching Him. Through each acknowledgment that He is good and high and ruler of the universe we, the creatures of the flesh, become less bound by the flesh and are increasingly aware that we have a right to perfection.

All evil forces which would deny the omnipotence and the everlasting love of the Father vanish before praise. Sorrow cannot live in the presence of adoration. Grief is routed by the glad hymn. Anger cannot endure the spirit of rejoicing which follows in the wake of homage. We who complain because of a depressed lot, instead of praising the invincible might, are drawing the veils which obscure the abundance of His joy and love. We who fret because circumstance does not please us are prodigal children and will eat of the husks until we turn our footsteps, not along the way of melancholy but along the way of worship.

The songs of the Psalmist were interpenetrated with praise. Jesus of Nazareth extolled the Father as the one most high. The letters of Paul are filled with expressions of absolute devotion. These great ones knew that no gift from God is a small gift, and in such knowledge they became aware of the wealth of eternity.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit