A seventh result will be an intense desire to get others to know your
wonderful Master. A desire so strong, gripping you so tremendously, that
all thought of sacrifice will sink out of sight in its achievement. He
is such a Master! so loving, so kind, so wondrous! And so many do not
know Him: have wrong ideas about Him. If they only _knew_ Him--that
surely would settle it. And probably these two--the desire to please
Him, and the desire to get others to know Him will take the _mastery_ of
your ambition and life.
The All-Inclusive Passion.
But all of these and much more is included in one of Paul's packed
phrases which may be read, "the _love_ of God hath _flooded_ our hearts
through the Holy Spirit given unto us."[21] The all-inclusive result is
_love_. That marvelous tender passion--the love of God--heightless,
depthless, shoreless, shall _flood_ our hearts, making us as gentle and
tender-hearted and self-sacrificing and gracious as He. Every phase of
life will become a phase of love. Peace is love resting. Bible study is
love reading its lover's letters. Prayer is love keeping tryst. Conflict
with sin is love jealously fighting for its Lover. Hatred of sin is love
shrinking from that which separates from its lover. Sympathy is love
tenderly feeling. Enthusiasm is love burning. Hope is love expecting.
Patience is love waiting. Faithfulness is love sticking fast. Humility
is love taking its true place. Modesty is love keeping out of sight.
Soul-winning is love pleading.
Love is revolutionary. It radically changes us, and revolutionizes our
spirit toward all others. Love is democratic. It ruthlessly levels all
class distinctions. Love is intensely practical. It is always hunting
something to do. Paul lays great stress on this outer practical side. Do
you remember his "fruit of the Spirit"?[22] It is an analysis of love.
While the first three--"love, joy, peace"--are emotions within, the
remaining six are outward toward others. Notice, "long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness," and then the climax is
reached in the last--"self-control." And in his great love passage in
the first Corinthian epistle,[23] he picks out four of these last six,
and shows further just what he means by love in its practical working in
the life. "Long-suffering" is repeated, and so is "kindness" or
"goodness." "Faithfulness" is reproduced in "never faileth." Then
"self-control" receives the emphasis of an eight-fold repetition of
"nots." Listen:--"Envieth not," "boasteth not," "not puffed up," "not
unseemly," "seeketh not (even) her own," "is not provoked," "taketh not
account of evil" (in trying to help others, like Jesus' word "despairing
of no man"[24]), "rejoiceth not in unrighteousness" (that is when the
unrighteous is punished, but instead feels sorry for him). What
tremendous power of self-mastery in those "nots"! Then the positive side
is brought out in four "alls"; two of them--the first and last--passive
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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