| The Lesson of Love |
Chapter 1 |
Page 4 |
Love keeps sweet amid all irritation. It “is not provoked.” It probably is too much to hope for in this world of infirmity and sinfulness, that one shall every attain a condition in life in which there shall be nothing that would naturally excite bitter or unkindly feeling. Indeed, we could not learn to be sweet tempered with nothing to test and exercise our temper. The problem then is not to find a paradise of sweetness in which to live — we shall have to wait for Heaven for that — but in common human conditions, with infirmities and failings even in our best friends, with a thousand things in the experiences of each day to try our tempers, still and always to keep sweet. Good temper is an admirable quality of love. For some people it is easier, too than for others. But it is part of the lesson of love which we should all set ourselves to learn, whether it is easy or hard. It can be learned, too, — it should be learned, for it is a Christian duty, one of the fruits of the Spirit, an essential element in Christian culture. We should never apologize for ill-temper as only an amiable weakness or a pardonable infirmity — we should be ashamed to yield to it. Touchy people should determine to conquer their wretched weakness and sin, by which God is dishonoured, and the love of tender hearts hurt. George Macdonald speaks of the hurt of love:—
“Thou knowest, O Saviour, its hurt and its sorrows,
Didst rescue its joy by the might of Thy pain:
Lord of all yesterdays, days and to-morrows,
Help us to love on in the hope of Thy gain.”
Love is meek. That is what Saint Paul’s words, “taketh no account of evil,” seem to mean. It does not keep a list of slights, offences and injustices. “How often shall I forgive?” Peter asked. He thought he was going a long way in the path of Christian love when he suggested that seven times would be enough. But Jesus said: “Oh, not seven times only, but seventy times seven” — that is, indefinitely. Let your love be simply inexhaustible.
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