第 2 节
作者:
点绛唇 更新:2024-04-07 11:54 字数:9322
your life; that simple charm; and your lifework must succeed。 You
can take nothing greater; you need take nothing less。 You may
take every accomplishment; you may be braced for every sacrifice;
but if you give your body to be burned; and have not Love; it will
profit you and the cause of Christ NOTHING。
II。 The Analysis
After contrasting Love with these things; Paul; in three verses;
very short; gives us an amazing analysis of what this supreme thing
is。
I ask you to look at it。 It is a compound thing; he tells us。 It
is like light。 As you have seen a man of science take a beam of
light and pass it through a crystal prism; as you have seen it come
out on the other side of the prism broken up into its component
colorsred; and blue; and yellow; and violet; and orange; and all
the colors of the rainbowso Paul passes this thing; Love; through
the magnificent prism of his inspired intellect; and it comes out
on the other side broken up into its elements。
In these few words we have what one might call
The spectrum of Love;
the analysis of love。 Will you observe what its elements are?
Will you notice that they have common names; that they are virtues
which we hear about every day; that they are things which can
be practised by every man in every place in life; and how; by a
multitude of small things and ordinary virtues; the supreme thing;
the 〃summum bonum;〃 is made up?
The Spectrum of Love has nine ingredients:
Patience 。 。 。 。 。 〃Love suffereth long。〃
Kindness 。 。 。 。 。 〃And is kind。〃
Generosity 。 。 。 。 〃Love envieth not。〃
Humility 。 。 。 。 。 〃Love vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up。〃
Courtesy 。 。 。 。 。 〃Doth not behave itself unseemly。〃
Unselfishness 。 。 〃Seeketh not its own。〃
Good temper 。 。 。 〃Is not provoked。〃
Guilelessness 。 。 〃Taketh not account of evil。〃
Sincerity 。 。 。 。 〃Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness; but rejoiceth
with the truth。〃
Patience; kindness; generosity; humility; courtesy; unselfishness;
good temper; guilelessness; sinceritythese make up the supreme
gift; the stature of the perfect man。
You will observe that all are in relation to men; in relation to
life; in relation to the known to…day and the near to…morrow; and
not to the unknown eternity。 We hear much of love to God; Christ
spoke much of love to man。 We make a great deal of peace with heaven;
Christ made much of peace on earth。 Religion is not a strange or
added thing; but the inspiration of the secular life; the breathing
of an eternal spirit through this temporal world。 The supreme
thing; in short; is not a thing at all; but the giving of a further
finish to the multitudinous words and acts which make up the sum
of every common day。
PATIENCE。 This is the normal attitude of love; Love passive; love
waiting to begin; not in a hurry; calm; ready to do its work when
the summons comes; but meantime wearing the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit。 Love suffers long; beareth all things; believeth
all things; hopeth all things。 For Love understands; and therefore
waits。
KINDNESS。 Love active。 Have you ever noticed how much of Christ's
life was spent in doing kind thingsin MERELY doing kind things?
Run over it with that in view; and you will find that He spent a
great proportion of His time simply in making people happy; in
Doing good turns
to people。 There is only one thing greater than happiness in the
world; and that is holiness; and it is not in our keeping; but
what God HAS put in our power is the happiness of those about us;
and that is largely to be secured by our being kind to them。
〃The greatest thing;〃 says some one; 〃a man can do for his Heavenly
Father is to be kind to some of His other children。〃 I wonder why
it is that we are not all kinder than we are? How much the world
needs it! How easily it is done! How instantaneously it acts! How
infallibly it is remembered! How superabundantly it pays itself
backfor there is no debtor in the world so honorable; so superbly
honorable; as Love。 〃Love never faileth。〃 Love is success; Love
is happiness; Love is life。 〃Love;〃 I say with Browning; 〃is energy
of life。〃
〃For life; with all it yields of joy or woe
And hope and fear;
Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love;
How love might be; hath been indeed; and is。〃
Where Love is; God is。 He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in
God。 God is Love。 Therefore LOVE。 Without distinction; without
calculation; without procrastination; love。 Lavish it upon the
poor; where it is very easy; especially upon the rich; who often need
it most; most of all upon our equals; where it is very difficult;
and for whom perhaps we each do least of all。 There is a difference
between TRYING TO PLEASE and GIVING PLEASURE。 Give pleasure。
Lose no chance of giving pleasure; for that is the ceaseless and
anonymous triumph of a truly loving spirit。 〃I shall pass through
this world but once。 Any good thing; therefore; that I can do; or
any kindness that I can show to any human being; let me do it now。
Let me not defer it or neglect it; for I shall not pass this way
again。〃
GENEROSITY。 〃Love envieth not。〃 This is love in competition with
others。 Whenever you attempt a good work you will find other men
doing the same kind of work; and probably doing it better。 Envy
them not。 Envy is a feeling of ill…will to those who are in the
same line as ourselves; a spirit of covetousness and detraction。
How little Christian work even is a protection against un…Christian
feeling! That most despicable of all the unworthy moods which
cloud a Christian's soul assuredly waits for us on the threshold of
every work; unless we are fortified with this grace of magnanimity。
Only one thing truly need the Christian envythe large; rich;
generous soul which 〃envieth not。〃
And then; after having learned all that; you have to learn this
further thing; HUMILITYto put a seal upon your lips and forget
what you have done。 After you have been kind; after Love has stolen
forth into the world and done its beautiful work; go back into the
shade again and say nothing about it。 Love hides even from itself。
Love waives even self…satisfaction。 〃Love vaunteth not itself; is
not puffed up。〃 Humilitylove hiding。
The fifth ingredient is a somewhat strange one to find in this 〃summum
bonum:〃 COURTESY。 This is Love in society; Love in relation to
etiquette。 〃Love doe not behave itself unseemly。〃
Politeness has been defined as love in trifles。 Courtesy is said
to be love in little things。 And the one secret of politeness is
to love。
Love CANNOT behave itself unseemly。 You can put the most untutored
persons into the highest society; and if they have a reservoir
of Love in their hearty they will not behave themselves unseemly。
They simply cannot do it。 Carlisle said of Robert Burns that there
was no truer gentleman in Europe than the ploughman…poet。 It was
because he loved everythingthe mouse; and the daisy; and all the
things; great and small; that God had made。 So with this simple
passport he could mingle with any society; and enter courts and
palaces from his little cottage on the banks of the Ayr。
You know the meaning of the word 〃gentleman。〃 It means a gentle
mana man who does things gently; with love。 That is the whole art
and mystery of it。 The gentle man cannot in the nature of things
do an ungentle; an ungentlemanly thing。 The ungentle soul; the
inconsiderate; unsympathetic nature; cannot do anything else。 〃Love
doth not behave itself unseemly。〃
UNSELFISHNESS。 〃Love seeketh not her own。〃 Observe: Seeketh not
even that which is her own。 In Britain the Englishman is devoted;
and rightly; to his rights。 But there come times when a man may
exercise even
The higher right
of giving up his rights。
Yet Paul does not summon us to give up our rights。 Love strikes
much deeper。 It would have us not seek them at all; ignore them;
eliminate the personal element altogether from our calculations。
It is not hard to give up our rights。 They are often eternal。 The
difficult thing is to give up OURSELVES。 The more difficult thing
still is not to seek things for ourselves at all。 After we have
sought them; bought them; won them; deserved them; we have taken
the cream off them for ourselves already。 Little cross then to
give them up。 But not to seek them; to look every man not on his
own things; but on the things of othersthat is the difficulty。
〃Seekest thou great things for thyself?〃 said the prophet; 〃SEEK
THEM NOT。〃 Why? Because there is no greatness in THINGS。 Things
cannot be great。 The only greatness is unselfish love。 Even
self…denial in itself is nothing; is almost a mistake。 Only a
great purpose or a mightier love can justify the waste。
It is mo