March 12The end of the commandment is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an undissembled faith — 1 Tim. 1:5.
We are to have clearly before our minds the fact that the ultimate object of all the Divine dealings for us and with us, and the ultimate significance of all the Divine promises made to us, is the development of love, which is Godlikeness, for God is love. And to have this love developed in us, in the sense and to the degree intended by the Lord, it is necessary that it shall come from a pure heart, in full accord with the Lord and His law of love, and wholly antagonistic to the Adversary and his law of selfishness—Z '00, 360 (R 2733). The beautiful attributes of the ripe Christian character, like those of God's character, consist of wisdom, justice, love and power. While these characteristics support one another, the one that shines out the brightest among them is love; the object of the other three is its development; and the ultimate goal of character development is the supremacy of Divine love, in harmony with, supported by, and flowing out of wisdom, justice and power—P '36, 31. Parallel passages: Matt. 7:12; Rom. 13:8-10; John 13:35; Eph. 1:4; Gal. 5:14; Col. 3:14; 1 Cor. 13; Jas. 2:8; 1 John 3:18, 19; 1 Pet. 1:22; 3:8; 4:8; Heb. 9:14; Acts 15:8, 9; 1 Cor. 6:11; Titus 3:5; Phil. 2:13. Hymns: 201, 165, 105, 125, 154, 130, 1. Poems of Dawn, 79: Love's Alchemy. Tower Reading: Z '15, 261 (R 5755). Questions: What has this text done to me? How? What helped or hindered? What were the circumstances? What were the results? |
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LOVE'S ALCHEMY
LOVE is the filling from one's own
Another's cup.
Love is a daily laying down
And taking up;
A choosing of the stony path
Through each new day
That other feet may tread with ease
A smoother way.
Love is not blind, but looks abroad
Through other eyes;
And asks not "Must I give?" but "May
I sacrifice?"
Love hides its grief, that other hearts
And lips may sing;
And burdened, walks, that other lives
May, buoyant, wing.
Brother, hast thou a love like this
Within thy soul?
'Twill change thy name to saint when thou
Dost reach thy goal.
LOVE is the filling from one's own
Another's cup.
Love is a daily laying down
And taking up;
A choosing of the stony path
Through each new day
That other feet may tread with ease
A smoother way.
Love is not blind, but looks abroad
Through other eyes;
And asks not "Must I give?" but "May
I sacrifice?"
Love hides its grief, that other hearts
And lips may sing;
And burdened, walks, that other lives
May, buoyant, wing.
Brother, hast thou a love like this
Within thy soul?
'Twill change thy name to saint when thou
Dost reach thy goal.
