This is just what God requires of His children, viz.: to be _perfect in our love to Him, and to have perfect charity, one with another_. "Charity, that thinketh no evil, is not easily provoked, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth." This is the love that helps us to overcome difficulties, that enables us to bear each other's burdens, that makes us feel each other's cares, and forgive each other's faults; that prevents us from taking "up a reproach against our neighbor, (Psalm xv., 3), and makes us one family in Christ." This love purifies the heart and brings us close to God, making us bold to take up, and firm to sustain the consecrated cross. But it is impossible to attain to this perfect life without some trials and sufferings. Our Saviour had His trials and temptations, so must we have. He did not purchase our salvation and pass to Heaven "on flow'ry beds of ease," neither can we. He laid aside His glory and made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; therefore, in following Him, we must, as saith the apostle, lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us. We must strip ourselves of all un-godliness and worldly lusts, of every appearance of evil, to the plucking out of the right eye or the cutting off of the right hand. It is better to live maimed than to die whole. We must also put on the whole armor of God which Christ alone can give, as the poet grandly sings: "In the mountain of Zion, in Christ's armory There are sword, shield and breast-plate and helmet for thee." Having put on this "whole armor," the command is to _stand_! "Stand then against your foes In close and firm array, Legions of wily friends oppose Throughout the evil day." The world, the flesh, and Satan will oppose us. The flesh will continually cry for ease, for comfort and for pleasure that is not becoming. It will say the cross is too heavy, the way is too hard; the life we are trying to live is too perfect, we never can attain to it, our Saviour never intended it and no one ever did thus live. It will appeal to our self-love, and tell us we are already better than our neighbors and should not mingle with other people. It will appeal to our pride and tell us the valley of blessing is too low, and those that walk therein are far beneath us, and in our pride we may say of them: "Stand thou there, for I am holier than thou;" or it may appeal to our malice and say, your brethren and friends speak evil of you and do not believe you; and all this can only be overcome by that charity which is the "bond of perfection." These are some of the battles we have to fight, and we can only fight successfully clad in the armor of charity.