Life is too short. Love is too
sacred. By J.R. Miller Love is patient
and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful
or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own
way. love is not irritable, and it
keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad
about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and
endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-7 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 13th chapter
of 1 Corinthians. 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 long-suffering patience, in self-denying love. like the flowers which give out
their perfume only when crushed, like the odiferous wood which
bathes with fragrance the axe which hews it, the life of Christ
yielded only the tenderer, sweeter love, to the rough impact of
men's rudeness 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 and disposition, mars the radiant loveliness of
the picture we are seeking to have fashioned in our lives.
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 Christ-likeness
in spirit and in disposition. We represent Christ in this world. People cannot see Him, and 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 patience and kindness, we fail in an essential part of
our duty as Christians. The servant of the Lord must
be gentle. only as our own lives shine in
the brightness of holy affectionateness, 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. 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 briars of sharp temper. Surely we ought to learn to be
patient with others, since God has to show every day such infinite
patience toward us. 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? 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. This Puritan devotional has been
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