"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." our Savior says (John 13:35). What is this love that proves to the world whether a man is a Christian or not? Our Lord tells us very plainly through His inspired apostle Paul: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

In vain do we look for such unselfish, humble, patient love among the children of this world. They have, it is true, much natural affection for their families and friends, they also extend charity toward their suffering fellow men; but the pure, unselfish, holy affection that marks a true Christian in all his relations to his fellow men, in which he stands ready to help and serve and save even his enemies - such love is produced only by God's Holy Spirit dwelling in a heart that has accepted the crucified Redeemer as its own in living faith. "Behold how they love one another!" the heathen cried in amazement when they saw the deep, self-sacrificing love the first Christians had to each other.

Such burning affection for our fellow redeemed, especially for those who are of the same household of faith, is growing less and less among us Christians of these last, evil days. And yet this unselfish, self-sacrificing affection is an unfailing thermometer marking the true state of our faith."If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" [1 John 4:20] Let us daily kindle our weak and waning love for our fellow men, especially for our fellow Christians, under the cross of that divine Love that died for us while we were yet sinners.

[devotion text by Rev. F. W. Herzberger (1920) -
from the Family Altar - CPH (1957 edition)]
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