Christian Love by J.C. Ryle

CARRY THE LIGHT ~ CHRISTIAN CLASSIC BOOKS
CHRISTIAN LOVE!
LOVING YOUR ENEMIES
IF WE LOVE A PERSON
BY J.C. RYLE
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He that loveth not knoweth not God;
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for God is love. ~1 John 4:8

CTL.TODAY
PRESENTS
CHRISTIAN LOVE!
LOVING YOUR ENEMIES
IF WE LOVE A PERSON
BY
REV. J.C. RYLE
1878
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John Charles Ryle was born at Macclesfield and was educated at Eton and at
Christ Church, Oxford. He was a fine athlete who rowed and played Cricket
for Oxford, where he took a first class degree in Greats and was offered a
college fellowship (teaching position) which he declined. The son of a wealthy
banker, he was destined for a career in politics before answering a call to
ordained ministry.
He was spiritually awakened in 1838 while hearing Ephesians 2 read in
church. He was ordained by Bishop Sumner at Winchester in 1842. After
holding a curacy at Exbury in Hampshire, he became rector of St Thomas's,
Winchester (1843), rector of Helmingham, Suffolk (1844), vicar of
Stradbroke (1861), honorary canon of Norwich (1872), and dean of Salisbury
(1880). In 1880, at age 64, he became the first bishop of Liverpool, at the
recommendation of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. He retired in 1900 at
age 83 and died later the same year.
Ryle was a strong supporter of the evangelical school and a critic of
Ritualism. Among his longer works are Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth
Century (1869), Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (7 vols, 1856-69) and
Principles for Churchmen (1884).
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THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not love, I have become a sounding brass, or a clanging symbol.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all
my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love is patient, and is kind; love does not envy. Love doesn’t
brag, is not proud, does not behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek
its own way, is not easily provoked, takes no account of evil, doesn’t
rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never
fails: but where there are prophecies, they shall fail; where there are
various languages, they shall cease; where there is knowledge, it shall
vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that
which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish
things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of
these is LOVE.—I COR 13.
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CONTENTS
CHRISTIAN LOVE! … 7
LOVING YOUR ENEMIES … 28
IF WE LOVE A PERSON … 33
SCRIPTURES … 38
RESOURCES … 45
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The Loving Heart of an Actual Living Christ - Audiobook
https://youtu.be/A3xSc7S2QTo

CHRISTIAN LOVE!
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of
these is love!" 1 Corinthians 13:13
"The end of the commandment is love." 1 Timothy 1:5
Love is rightly called "the Queen of Christian graces." It is a grace
which all people profess to admire. It seems a plain practical thing
which everybody can understand. It is none of "those troublesome
doctrinal points" about which Christians are disagreed. Thousands, I
suspect, would not be ashamed to tell you that they knew nothing
about justification or regeneration, about the work of Christ or the
Holy Spirit. But nobody, I believe, would like to say that he knew
nothing about "love!" If men possess nothing else in religion, they
always flatter themselves that they possess "love."
A few plain thoughts about love may not be without use. There are
false notions abroad about it which require to be dispelled. There are
mistakes about it which require to be rectified. In my admiration of
love, I yield to none. But I am bold to say that in many minds, the
whole subject seems completely misunderstood.
I. Let me show, firstly, the place which the Bible gives to love.
II. Let me show, secondly, what the love of the Bible really is.
III. Let me show, thirdly, where true love comes from.
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IV. Let me show, lastly, why love is "the greatest" of the graces.
I ask the best attention of my readers to the subject. My heart's desire
and prayer to God is, that the growth of love may be promoted in this
sin-burdened world. In nothing does the fallen condition of man
show itself so strongly, as in the scarcity of Christian love. There is
little faith on earth, little hope, little knowledge of Divine things.
But nothing, after all, is so scarce as real love!
I. Let me show the PLACE which the Bible gives to love.
I begin with this point in order to establish the immense practical
importance of my subject. I do not forget that there are many highflying
Christians in this present day, who almost refuse to look at
anything practical in Christianity. They can talk of nothing but two
or three favorite doctrines. Now I want to remind my readers that the
Bible contains much about practice as well as about doctrine, and
that one thing to which it attaches great weight, is "love."
I turn to the New Testament, and ask men to observe what it says
about love. In all religious inquiries there is nothing like letting the
Scripture speak for itself. There is no surer way of finding out truth,
than the old way of turning to plain texts. Texts were our Lord's
weapons, both in answering Satan, and in arguing with the Jews.
Texts are the guides we must never be ashamed to refer to in the
present day. "What do the Scriptures say? What is written? How do
you read?"
Let us hear what Paul says to the Corinthians: "If I speak in the
tongues of men and of angels, but have not love--I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy
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and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but have not love--I am nothing. If I give
all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but
have not love--I gain nothing!" 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Let us hear what Paul says to the Colossians: "Above all these things
put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." Colossians 3:14.
Let us hear what Paul says to Timothy: "The end of the
commandment is love out of a pure heart" 1 Timothy 1:5.
Let us hear what Peter says: "Above all things, have fervent love
among yourselves: for love shall cover the multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8.
Let us hear what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says, "A new
command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34, 35.
Above all, let us read our Lord's account of the last judgment, and
mark that lack of love will condemn millions. "Then He will say to
those on the left: Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! For I was hungry
and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me
nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was
naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not
take care of Me." Matthew 25:41-43.
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Let us hear what Paul says to the Romans: "Owe no man anything--
but to love another: for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:9.
Let us hear what Paul says to the Ephesians: “And walk in love, as
Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.” Ephesians 5:2.
Let us hear what John says: "Beloved, let us love one another, because
love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and
knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because
God is love." 1 John 4:7, 8.
I shall make no comment upon these texts. I think it better to place
them before my readers in their naked simplicity, and to let them
speak for themselves. If anyone is disposed to think the subject of
this paper a matter of light importance, I will only ask him to look at
these texts, and to think again. He who would take down "love" from
the high and holy place which it occupies in the Bible, and treat it as
a matter of secondary consequence, must settle his account with
God's Word. I certainly shall not waste time in arguing with him.
To my own mind, the evidence of these texts appears clear, plain,
and incontrovertible. They show the immense importance of love, as
one of the "things that accompany salvation." They prove that it has a
right to demand the serious attention of all who call themselves
Christians, and that those who despise the subject are only exposing
their own ignorance of Scripture.
II. Let me show, secondly, WHAT the love of the Bible really is.
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I think it of great importance to have clear views on this point. It is
precisely here that mistakes about love begin. Thousands delude
themselves with the idea that they have "love," when they have not,
from downright ignorance of Scripture. Their love is not the love
described in the Bible.
(a) The love of the Bible does not consist in giving to the poor. It is a
common delusion to suppose that it does. Yet Paul tells us plainly,
that a man may "bestow all his goods to feed the poor "1 Corinthians 13:8
-and not have love! That a charitable man will "remember the poor,"
there can be no question. Galatians 2:10. That he will do all he can to
assist them, relieve them, and lighten their burdens--I do not for a
moment deny. All I say is, that this does not make up "love." It is easy
to spend a fortune in giving away money, and soup, and milk, and
and bread, and coals, and blankets, and clothing--and yet to be
utterly destitute of Bible love!
(b) The love of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving anybody's
conduct. Here is another very common delusion! Thousands pride
themselves on never condemning others, or calling them wrong,
whatever they may do. They convert the precept of our Lord, "do not
judge," into an excuse for having no unfavorable opinion at all of
anybody! They pervert His prohibition of rash and censorious
judgments, into a prohibition of all judgment whatever.
Your neighbor may be a drunkard, a liar, and a violent man. Never
mind! "It is not love," they tell you, "to pronounce him, wrong!" You
are to believe that he has a good heart at the bottom! This idea of
love is, unhappily, a very common one. It is full of mischief. To throw
a veil over sin, and to refuse to call things by their right names, to
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talk of "hearts" being good, when "lives" are flatly wrong, to shut our
eyes against wickedness, and say smooth things of immorality--this
is not Scriptural love!
(c) The love of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving anybody's
religious opinions. Here is another most serious and growing delusion.
There are many who pride themselves on never pronouncing others
mistaken, whatever views they may hold. Your neighbor may be an
Atheist, or a Buddhist, or a Roman Catholic, or a Mormonite, a Deist,
or a Skeptic, a mere Formalist, or a thorough Antinomian. But the
"love" of many says that you have no right to think him wrong! "If he
is sincere, it is uncharitable to think unfavorably of his spiritual
condition!"
From such love--may I ever be delivered!
At this rate, the Apostles were wrong in going out to preach to the
Gentiles!
At this rate, there is no use in missions!
At this rate, we had better close our Bibles, and shut up our churches!
At this rate, everybody is right--and nobody is wrong!
At this rate, everybody is going to Heaven--and nobody is going to
Hell!
Such love is a monstrous caricature! To say that all are equally right
in their opinions--though their opinions flatly contradict one
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another; to say that all are equally in the way to Heaven--though
their doctrinal sentiments are as opposite as black and white--this is
not Scriptural love. Love like this, pours contempt on the Bible, and
talks as if God had not given us a written standard of truth. Love like
this, confuses all our notions of Heaven, and would fill it with a
discordant inharmonious rabble. True love does not think everybody
right in doctrine. True love cries, "Do not believe every spirit, but test
the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false
prophets have gone out into the world!" 1 John 4:1. "If anyone comes to
you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your
house or welcome him!" 2 John 1:10
I leave the negative side of the question here. I have dwelt upon it at
some length because of the days in which we live and the strange
notions which abound. Let me now turn to the positive side. Having
shown what love is not, let me now show what it is.
Christian love is that "love," which Paul places first among those
fruits which the Spirit causes to be brought forth in the heart of a
believer. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." Galatians 5:22.
Love to God, such as Adam had before the fall, is its first feature. He
who has love, desires to love God with heart, and soul and mind, and
strength.
Love to man is its second feature. He who has Christian love, desires
to love his neighbor as himself.
Christian love will show itself in a believer's doings. It will make him
ready to do kind acts to everyone within his reach, "both to their
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odies and souls. It will not let him be content with soft words and
kind wishes. It will make him diligent in doing all that lies in his
power to lessen the sorrow and increase the happiness of others.
Like his Master, he will care more for ministering than for being
ministered to, and will look for nothing in return. Like his Master's
great apostle, he will very willingly "spend and be spent" for others,
even though they repay him with hatred, and not with love. True love
does not want wages. Its work is its reward.
Christian love will show itself in a believer's readiness to bear evil
as well as to do good. It will make him . . .
patient under provocation,
forgiving when injured,
meek when unjustly attacked,
quiet when slandered.
It will make him bear much and forbear much, put up with much
and look over much, submit often and deny himself often--all for
the sake of peace. It will make him put a strong bit on his temper,
and a strong bridle on his tongue.
True love is not always asking, "What are my rights? Am I treated as I
deserve?" but, "How can I best promote peace? How can I do that
which is most edifying to others?"
Christian love will show itself in the general spirit and demeanor of
a believer. It will make him kind, unselfish, good-natured, goodtempered,
and considerate for others. It will make him gentle,
affable, and courteous, in all the daily relations of private life. It will
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make him thoughtful for others' comfort, tender for others' feelings,
and more anxious to give pleasure than to receive.
True love never envies others when they prosper, nor rejoices in the
calamities of others when they are in trouble. At all times, it will
believe, and hope, and try to put a good construction on others'
actions. And even at the worst, it will be full of pity, mercy, and
compassion.
Would we like to know where the true Pattern of love like this can be
found? We have only to look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as
described in the Gospels, and we shall see it perfectly exemplified.
Love shone forth in all His doings. His daily life was an incessant
"going about" doing good. Love shone forth in all His bearing. He was
continually hated, persecuted, slandered, misrepresented. But He
patiently endured it all. No angry word ever fell from His lips. No illtemper
ever appeared in His demeanor. "When they hurled their
insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no
threats." 1 Peter 2:23. Love shone forth in all His spirit and
deportment. The law of kindness was ever on His lips. Among weak
and ignorant disciples, among sick and sorrowful petitioners for
help and relief, among publicans and sinners, among Pharisees and
Sadducees--He was always one and the same--kind and patient to all.
And yet, be it remembered, our blessed Master never flattered
sinners, or connived at sin. He never shrank from exposing
wickedness in its true colors, or from rebuking those who would
cleave to it. He never hesitated to denounce false doctrine, by
whoever it might be held, or to exhibit false practice in its true
colors, and the certain end to which it tends. He called things by their
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ight names. He spoke as freely of Hell and the fire that is never
quenched, as of Heaven and the kingdom of glory. He has left on
record an everlasting proof that perfect love does not require us to
approve everybody's life or opinions, and that it is quite possible to
condemn false doctrine and wicked practice--and yet to be full of
love at the same time.
I have now set before my readers the true nature of Christian love. I
have given a slight and very brief account of what it is not, and what
it is. I cannot pass on without suggesting two practical thoughts,
which press home on my mind with weighty force, and I hope may
press home on others.
Think, for a moment, how deplorably little love there is upon earth!
How conspicuous is the absence of true love among professing
Christians! I speak not of heathen now, I speak of professing
Christians! What angry tempers, what passions, what selfishness,
what bitter tongues--are to be found in private families! What
strifes, what quarrels, what spitefulness, what malice, what revenge,
what envy between neighbors and fellow-parishioners! What
jealousies and contentions between Churchmen and Dissenters,
Calvinists and Arminians, High Churchmen and Low Churchmen!
"Where is love?" we may well ask, "Where is love? Where is the mind
of Christ?"--when we look at the spirit which reigns in the world. No
wonder that Christ's cause stands still, and infidelity abounds--when
men's hearts know so little of love! Surely, we may well say, "When
the Son of man comes, shall He find love upon earth?"
Think, for another thing, what a happy world this would be--if there
was more love. It is the lack of love which causes half the misery
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which there is upon earth. Sickness, and death, and poverty, will not
account for more than half the sorrows. The rest come from illtemper,
ill-nature, strifes, quarrels, lawsuits, malice, envy, revenge,
frauds, violence, wars, and the like. It would be one great step
towards doubling the happiness of mankind, and halving their
sorrows--if all men and women were full of Scriptural love.
III. Let me show, thirdly--where the love of the Bible comes from.
Love, such as I have described, is certainly not natural to man.
Naturally, we are all more or less selfish, envious, ill-tempered,
spiteful, ill-natured, and unkind! We have only to observe children,
when left to themselves, to see the proof of this. Let boys and girls
grow up without proper training and education--and you will not see
one of them possessing Christian love! Mark how some of them
think first of themselves, and their own comfort and advantage!
Mark how others are full of pride, passion, and evil tempers! How
can we account for it? There is but one reply. The natural heart
knows nothing of true love.
Christian love will never be found except in a heart prepared by the
Holy Spirit. It is a tender plant, and will never grow except in one
soil. You may as well expect grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles--as
look for love when the heart is not right.
The heart in which love grows, is a heart changed, renewed, and
transformed by the Holy Spirit. The image and likeness of God,
which Adam lost at the fall, has been restored to it, however feeble
and imperfect the restoration may appear. It is a "partaker of the
Divine nature," by union with Christ and sonship to God; and one of
the first features of that nature is love. 2Peter 1:4
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Such a heart is deeply convinced of sin--hates it, flees from it, and
fights with it from day to day. And one of the prime motions of sin
which it daily labors to overcome, is selfishness and lack of love.
Such a heart is deeply sensible of its mighty debt to our Lord Jesus
Christ. It feels continually that it owes to Him who died for us on the
cross, all its present comfort, hope, and peace. How can it show forth
its gratitude? What can it render to its Redeemer? If it can do
nothing else, it strives to be like Him, to drink into His spirit, to walk
in His footsteps, and, like Him--to be full of love. "The love of Christ
shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit" is the surest fountain of
Christian love. Love will produce love.
I ask my reader's special attention to this point. It is one of great
importance in the present day. There are many who profess to
admire love--while they care nothing about vital Christianity. They
like some of the fruits and results of the Gospel--but not the root
from which these fruits alone can grow, or the doctrines with which
they are inseparably connected.
Hundreds will praise love--who hate to be told of man's corruption,
of the blood of Christ, and of the inward work of the Holy Spirit.
Many a parent would like his children to grow up unselfish and good
tempered--who would not be much pleased if conversion, and
repentance, and faith, were pressed home on their attention.
Now I desire to protest against this notion, that you can have the
fruits of Christianity, without the roots--that you can produce
Christian tempers, without teaching Christian doctrines--that you
can have love which will wear and endure, without grace in the heart.
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I grant, most freely, that every now and then one sees a person who
seems very charitable and amiable, without any distinctive Christian
religion. But such cases are so rare and remarkable, that, like
exceptions--they only prove the truth of the general rule. And often,
too often, it may be feared in such cases the love is only apparent,
and in private it completely fails. I firmly believe, as a general rule,
you will not find such love as the Bible describes, except in the soil of
a heart thoroughly imbued with Bible religion. Holy practice will not
flourish without sound doctrine. What God has joined together, it is
useless to expect to have separate.
The delusion which I am trying to combat, is helped forward to a
most mischievous degree by the vast majority of novels, romances,
and tales of fiction. Who does not know that the heroes and heroines
of these works are constantly described as patterns of perfection?
They are always doing the right thing, saying the right thing, and
showing the right temper! They are always kind, and amiable, and
unselfish, and forgiving! And yet you never hear a word about their
religion! In short, to judge by the generality of works of fiction, it is
possible to have . . .
excellent practical religion--without doctrine,
the fruits of the Spirit--without the grace of the Spirit,
and the mind of Christ--without union with Christ!
Here, in short, is the great danger of reading most novels, romances,
and works of fiction. The greater part of them give a false or
incorrect view of human nature. They paint their model men and
women as they ought to be, and not as they really are. The readers of
such writings get their minds filled with wrong conceptions of what
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the world is. Their notions of mankind become visionary and unreal.
They are constantly looking for men and women such as they never
meet--and expecting what they never find.
Let me entreat my readers, once for all, to draw their ideas of human
nature from the Bible, and not from novels. Settle it down in your
mind, that there cannot be true love without a heart renewed by
grace. A certain degree of kindness, courtesy, amiability, good
nature--may undoubtedly be seen in many who have no vital
religion. But the glorious plant of Bible love, in all its fullness and
perfection, will never be found without union with Christ, and the
work of the Holy Spirit. Teach this to your children, if you have any.
Hold it up in schools, if you are connected with any. Lift up love.
Make much of love. Give place to none in exalting the grace of
kindness, love, good nature, unselfishness, good temper.
But never, never forget, that there is but one school in which these
things can be thoroughly learned--and that is the school of Christ.
Real love comes down from above. True love is the fruit of the Spirit.
He who would have it--must sit at Christ's feet, and learn of Him.
IV. Let me show, lastly--why love is called the "greatest" of the
graces.
The words of Paul, on this subject, are distinct and unmistakable. He
winds up his wonderful chapter on love in the following manner:
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest
of these is love!" 1 Corinthians 13:13
This expression is very remarkable. Of all the writers in the New
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Testament, none, certainly, exalts "faith" so highly as Paul. The
Epistles to the Romans and Galatians abound in sentences showing
its vast importance. By faith, the sinner lays hold on Christ and is
saved. Through faith, we are justified, and have peace with God. Yet
here the same Paul speaks of something which is even greater than
faith! He puts before us the three leading Christian graces, and
pronounces the following judgment on them, "The greatest is love!"
Such a sentence from such a writer demands special attention. What
are we to understand, when we hear of love being greater than faith
and hope?
We are not to suppose, for a moment, that love can atone for our sins,
or make our peace with God. Nothing can do that for us, but the
blood of Christ; and nothing can give us a saving interest in Christ's
blood, but faith. It is Scriptural ignorance not to know this. The office
of justifying and joining the soul to Christ, belongs to faith alone.
Our love, and all our other graces, are all more or less imperfect, and
could not stand the severity of God's judgment. When we have done
all--we are "unprofitable servants." Luke 17:10.
We are not to suppose that Christian love can exist independently of
faith. Paul did not intend to set up one grace in rivalry to the other.
He did not mean that one man might have faith, another hope, and
another love--and that the best of these, was the man who had love.
The three graces are inseparably joined together. Where there is
faith, there will always be love; and where there is love, there will be
faith. Sun and light, fire and heat, ice and cold, are not more
intimately united than faith and love!
The reasons why love is called the greatest of the three graces,
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appear to me plain and simple. Let me show what they are.
(a) Love is called the greatest of graces, because it is the one in which
there is some likeness between the believer and his God. God has no
need of faith. He is dependent on no one. There is none superior to
Him in whom He must trust. God has no need of hope. To Him all
things are certain, whether past, present, or to come. But "God is
love" and the more love His people have--the more similar they are
to their Father in Heaven.
(b) Love, for another thing, is called the greatest of the graces,
because it is most useful to others. Faith and hope, beyond doubt,
however precious, have special reference to a believer's own private
individual benefit. Faith unites the soul to Christ, brings peace with
God, and opens the way to Heaven. Hope fills the soul with cheerful
expectation of things to come, and, amid the many discouragements
of things seen, comforts with visions of the things unseen.
But love is pre-eminently the grace which makes a man useful. It is
the spring of good works and kindnesses. It is the root of missions,
schools, and hospitals. Love made apostles spend and be spent for
souls. Love raises up workers for Christ, and keeps them working.
Love smooths quarrels, and stops strife--and in this sense, "covers a
multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8. Love adorns Christianity, and
recommends it to the world. A man may have real faith, and feel it--
and yet his faith may be invisible to others. But a man's love cannot
be hidden.
(c) Love, in the last place, is the greatest of the graces, because it is
the one which endures the longest. In fact, it will never die. Faith will
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one day be swallowed up in sight--and hope in certainty. Their office
will be useless in the morning of the resurrection; and, like old
almanacs, they will be laid aside. But love will live on through the
endless ages of eternity! Heaven will be the abode of love. The
inhabitants of Heaven will be full of love. One common feeling will
be in all their hearts, and that will be love.
I leave this part of my subject here, and pass on to a CONCLUSION.
On each of the three points of comparison I have just named,
between love and the other graces, it would be easy to enlarge. But
time and space both forbid me to do so. If I have said enough to
guard men against mistakes about the right meaning, of the
greatness of love--I am content. Love, be it ever remembered, cannot
justify and put away our sins. It is neither Christ, nor faith.
But love makes us somewhat like God.
Love is of mighty use to the world.
Love will live and flourish when faith's work is done.
Surely, in these points of view--love well deserves the crown!
(1) And now let me ask every one into whose hands this paper may
come a simple question. Let me press home on your conscience the
whole subject of this paper. Do you know anything of the grace of
which I have been speaking? Do you have Christian love?
The strong language of the Apostle Paul must surely convince you
that the inquiry is not one that ought to be lightly put aside. The
grace, without which that holy man could say, "I am nothing," the
grace which the Lord Jesus says expressly is the great mark of being
His disciple--such a grace as this, demands the serious consideration
of every one who is in earnest about the salvation of his soul. It
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should set him thinking, "How does this affect me? Do I have
Christian love?"
You have some knowledge, it may be, of religion. You know the
difference between true and false doctrine. You can, perhaps, even
quote texts, and defend the opinions you hold. But, remember the
knowledge which is barren of practical results in life and temper--is
a useless possession! The words of the Apostle are very plain: "If I
can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge--but have not love, I am
nothing!" 1 Corinthians 13:3.
You think you have faith, perhaps. You trust you are one of God's
elect, and rest in that. But surely you should remember that there is a
faith of devils, which is utterly unprofitable--and that the faith of
God's elect is a "faith which works by love." It was when Paul
remembered the "love" of the Thessalonians, as well as their faith
and hope, that he said, "I know your election of God." 1 Thessalonians 1:4.
Look at your own daily life, both at home and abroad, and consider
what place Christian love has in it. What is your temper? What are
your ways of behaving toward all around you in your own family?
What is your manner of speaking, especially in seasons of vexation
and provocation? Where is your good-nature, your courtesy, your
patience, your meekness, your gentleness, your forbearance? Where
are your practical actions of love in your dealing with others? What
do you know of the mind of Him who "went about doing good"--who
loved all, though specially His disciples--who returned good for evil,
and kindness for hatred, and had a heart wide enough to feel for all?
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What would you do in Heaven, I wonder, if you got there without
love? What comfort could you have in an abode where love was the
law, and selfishness and ill-nature completely shut out? Alas! I fear
that Heaven would be no place for an uncharitable and ill-tempered
man! A little boy said, "If grandfather goes to Heaven--I hope my
brother and I will not go there." "Why do you say that?" he was asked.
He replied, "If he sees us there, I am sure he will say, as he does
now--'What are these boys doing here? Get them get out of the way!'
He does not like to see us on earth, and I suppose he would not like to
see us in Heaven!"
Give yourself no rest, until you know something by experience of
real Christian love. Go and learn of Him who is meek and lowly of
heart, and ask Him to teach you how to love. Ask the Lord Jesus to put
His Spirit within you, to take away the old heart, to give you a new
nature, to make you know something of His mind. Cry to Him night
and day for grace, and give Him no rest until you feel something of
what I have been describing in this paper. Happy indeed will your
life be, when you really understand "walking in love."
(2) But I do not forget that I am writing to some who are not ignorant
of the love of Scripture, and who long to feel more of it every year. I
will give you two simple words of exhortation. They are these:
Practice love diligently. It is one of those graces, above all, which
grow by constant exercise. Strive more and more to carry it into
every little detail of daily life. Watch over your own tongue and
temper throughout every hour of the day, and especially in your
dealings with children and spouse. Remember the character of the
excellent woman: "In her tongue is the law of kindness." Proverbs 31:26
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Remember the words of Paul: "Let ALL your things be done with
love." (1 Corinthians 16:14.) Love should be seen in little things, as well
as in great ones.
Remember, not least, the words of Peter: "Have fervent love among
yourselves;" not a love which just keeps alight, but a burning shining
fire, which all around can see! 1 Peter 4:8. It may cost pains and
trouble to keep these things in mind. There may be little
encouragement from the example of others. But persevere. Love like
this brings its own reward!
Finally,
Press it continually on your children. Tell them the great duty of
kindness, helpfulness, and considerateness, one for another.
Remind them constantly that kindness, good nature, and good
temper, are among the first evidences which Christ requires in
children. If they cannot know much, or explain doctrines--they can
understand love. A child's religion is worth very little if it only
consists in repeating texts and hymns. As useful as they are, they are
often . . .
learned without thought,
remembered without feeling,
repeated without consideration of their meaning,
and forgotten when childhood is gone!
By all means let children be taught texts and hymns; but let not such
teaching be made everything in their religion. Teach them to keep
their tempers, to be kind one to another, to be unselfish, goodnatured,
obliging, patient, gentle, forgiving. Tell them never to
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forget to their dying day, if they live as long as Methuselah, that
without love, the Holy Spirit says, "we are nothing." Tell them "above
all things--to put on love, which is the bond of perfectness."
Colos. 3:14.
Loving Your Enemies Audio book:
https://youtu.be/wZexhDJGV2k
Page 27

LOVING YOUR ENEMIES
"But I say unto you that hear, love your enemies, do good to them
who hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them who
despitefully use you." Luke 6:27,28
The teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these verses, is confined to
one great subject. That subject is Christian love and charity. Charity,
which is the grand characteristic of the Gospel, the bond of
perfectness, without which a man is nothing in God's sight, is here
fully expounded and strongly enforced. Well would it have been for
the Church of Christ if its Master's precept in this passage had been
more carefully studied and more diligently observed.
In the first place, our Lord explains the nature and extent of
Christian charity. The disciples might ask, Whom are we to love? He
bids them, "love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless
them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you."
Their love was to be like his own toward sinners--unselfish,
disinterested, and uninfluenced by any hope of return. What was to
be the manner of this love? the disciples might ask. It was to be selfsacrificing
and self-denying. "Unto him that smites you on the one
cheek, offer also the other." "He that takes away your cloak, forbid not
to take your coat also." They were to give up much and endure much
for the sake of showing kindness and avoiding strife. They were to
forego even their rights and submit to wrong rather than awaken
angry passions and create quarrels. In this they were to be like their
Master--long-suffering, meek, and lowly of heart. Our Lord
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condemns everything like a revengeful, pugnacious, litigious, or
quarrelsome spirit. He enjoins forbearance, patience, and longsuffering
under injuries and insults. He would have us concede
much, submit to much, and put up with much rather than cause
strife. He would have us endure much inconvenience and loss, and
even sacrifice some of our just rights rather than have any
contention.
In the second place, our Lord lays down a golden principle for the
settlement of doubtful cases. He knew well that there will always be
occasions when the line of duty toward our neighbor is not clearly
defined. He knew how much self-interest and private feelings will
sometimes dim our perceptions of right and wrong. He supplies us
with a precept for our guidance, in all such cases, of infinite wisdom.
It is a precept which even infidels have been compelled to admire:
"As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them
likewise." To do to others as they do to us and return evil for evil is
the standard of the heathen. To behave to others as we should like
others to behave to us, whatever their actual behavior may be, this
should be the mark at which the Christian should aim. This is to walk
in the steps of our blessed Savior. If he had dealt with the world as
the world dealt with him, we should all have been ruined forever in
hell.
In the third place, our Lord points out to his disciples the necessity
of their having a higher standard of duty to their neighbor than the
children of this world. He reminds them that to love those who love
them and do good to those who do good to them and lend to those of
whom they hope to receive, is to act no better than "the sinner" who
knows nothing of the Gospel. The Christian must be altogether
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another style of man. His feelings of love and his deeds of kindness
must be like his Master's--free and gratuitous. He must let men see
that he loves others from higher principles than the ungodly do, and
that his charity is not confined to those from whom he hopes to get
something in return. Anybody can show kindness and charity when
he hopes to gain something by it. But such charity should never
content a Christian. The man who is content with it ought to
remember that his practice does not rise an inch above the level of
an old Roman or Greek idolater.
In the fourth place, our Lord shows his disciples that in discharging
their duty to their neighbors they should look to the example of God.
If they called themselves "children of the Highest," they should
consider that their Father is "kind to the unthankful and the evil,"
and they should learn from him to be merciful, even as he is
merciful. The extent of God's unacknowledged mercies to men can
never be reckoned up. Every year he pours benefits on millions who
do not honor the hand from which they come or thank the giver of
them. Yet every year these benefits are continued. "Seed time and
harvest, summer and winter, never cease." His mercy endures
forever. His loving kindness is unwearied. His compassions fail not.
So ought it to be with all who profess themselves to be his children.
Thanklessness and ingratitude should not make them slack their
hands from works of love and mercy. Like their Father in heaven,
they should never be tired of doing good.
In the last place, our Lord assures his disciples that the practice of
the high standard of charity he recommends shall bring its own
reward. "Judge not," he says, "and you shall not be judged; condemn
not, and you shall not be condemned; forgive, and you shall be
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forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you." And he concludes with
the broad assertion, "With the same measure that you mete withal,
shall it be measured to you again." The general meaning of these
words appears to be that no man shall ever be a loser, in the long
run, by deeds of self-denying charity and patient long-suffering
love. At times he may seem to get nothing by his conduct. He may
appear to reap nothing but ridicule, contempt, and injury. His
kindness may sometimes tempt men to impose on him. His patience
and forbearance may be abused. But at the last he will always be
found a gainer, and often, very often, a gainer in this life; certainly,
most certainly, a gainer in the life to come.
Such is the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about charity. Few of his
sayings are so deeply heart-searching as those we have now been
considering. Few passages in the Bible are so truly humbling as these
eleven verses.
How little of the type of charity which our Lord recommends is to be
seen either in the world or in the Church! How common is an angry
passionate spirit, a morbid sensitiveness about what is called honor,
and a readiness to quarrel on the least occasion! How seldom we see
men and women who love their enemies and do good hoping for
nothing again, and bless those that curse them, and are kind to the
unthankful and evil. Truly we are reminded here of our Lord's
words, "Narrow is the way which leads unto life, and few there be
that find it."
How happy the world would be if Christ's precepts were strictly
obeyed. The chief causes of half the sorrows of mankind are
selfishness, strife, unkindness, and lack of charity. Never was there a
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greater mistake than to suppose that vital Christianity interferes
with human happiness. It is not having too much religion but too
little that makes people gloomy, wretched, and miserable. Wherever
Christ is best known and obeyed, there will always be found most
real joy and peace.
Would we know
anything by
experience of this
blessed grace of
charity? Then let us
seek to be joined to
Christ by faith and
to be taught and
sanctified by his
Spirit. Let us
understand that
real, genuine, selfdenying
love will
never grow from
any roots but faith
in Christ's
atonement and a
heart renewed by
the Holy Ghost. We
shall never make
men love one another unless we teach as St. Paul taught, "Walk in
love as Christ has loved us." Teaching love on any other principle is,
as a general rule, labor in vain.
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IF WE LOVE A PERSON
“If we love a person, we like to think about him. We do not need to
be reminded of him. We do not forget his name, or his appearance,
or his character, or his opinions, or his tastes, or his position, or his
occupation. He comes up before our mind’s eye many a time in the
day. Though perhaps far distant, he is often present in our thoughts.
Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ! Christ
“dwells in his heart,” and is thought of more or less every day. Ephes.
3:17. The true Christian does not need to be reminded that he has a
crucified Master. He often thinks of Him. He never forgets that He
has a day, a cause, and a people, and that of His people he is one.
Affection is the real secret of a good memory in religion. No worldly
man can think much about Christ, unless Christ is pressed upon his
notice, because he has no affection for Him. The true Christian has
thoughts about Christ every day that he lives, for this one simple
reason, that he loves Him.
If we love a person, we like to hear about him. We find a pleasure in
listening to those who speak of him. We feel an interest in any report
which others make of him. We are all attention when others talk
about him, and describe his ways, his sayings, his doings, and his
plans. Some may hear him mentioned with utter indifference, but
our own hearts bound within us at the very sound of his name. Well,
it is just so between the true Christian and Christ! The true Christian
delights to hear something about his Master. He likes those sermons
best which are full of Christ. He enjoys that society most in which
people talk of the things which are Christ’s. I have read of an old
Welsh believer, who used to walk several miles every Sunday to hear
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an English clergyman preach, though she did not understand a word
of English. She was asked why she did so. She replied, that this
clergyman named the name of Christ so often in his sermons, that it
did her good. She loved even the name of her Savior.
If we love a person, we like to read about him. What intense
pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to a wife, or a letter
from an absent son to his mother. Others may see little worth notice
in the letter. They can scarcely take the trouble to read it through.
But those who love the writer see something in the letter which no
one else can. They carry it about with them as a treasure. They read it
over and over again. Well, it is just so between the true Christian and
Christ! The true Christian delights to read the Scriptures, because
they tell him about his beloved Saviour. It is no wearisome task with
him to read them. He rarely needs reminding to take his Bible with
him when he goes a journey. He cannot be happy without it. And why
is all this? It is because the Scriptures testify of Him whom his soul
loves, even Christ.
If we love a person, we like to please him. We are glad to consult his
tastes and opinions, to act upon his advice, and do the things which
he approves. We even deny ourselves to meet his wishes, abstain
from things which we know he dislikes, and learn things to which we
are not naturally inclined, because we think it will give him pleasure.
Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ! The true
Christian studies to please Him, by being holy both in body and
spirit. Show him anything in his daily practice that Christ hates, and
he will give it up. Show him anything that Christ delights in, and he
will follow after it. He does not murmur at Christ’s requirements, as
being too strict and severe, as the children of the world do. To him
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Christ’s commandments are not grievous, and Christ’s burden is
light. And why is all this? Simply because he loves Him.
If we love a person, we like his friends. We are favorably inclined to
them, even before we know them. We are drawn to them by the
common tie of common love to one and the same person. When we
meet them we do not feel that we are altogether strangers. There is a
bond of union between us. They love the person that we love, and
that alone is an introduction. Well, it is just so between the true
Christian and Christ! The true Christian regards all Christ’s friends
as his friends, members of the same body, children of the same
family, soldiers in the same army, travelers to the same home. When
he meets them, he feels as if he had long known them. He is more at
home with them in a few minutes, than he is with many worldly
people after an acquaintance of several years. And what is the secret
of all this? It is simply affection to the same Savior, and love to the
same Lord.
If we love a person, we are jealous about his name and honor. We
do not like to hear him spoken against, without speaking up for him
and defending him. We feel bound to maintain his interests, and his
reputation. We regard the person who treats him ill with almost as
much disfavor as if he had ill-treated us. Well, it is just so between
the true Christian and Christ! The true Christian regards with a
godly jealousy all efforts to disparage his Master’s word, or name, or
Church, or day. He will confess Him before princes, if need be, and
be sensitive of the least dishonor put upon Him. He will not hold his
peace, and suffer his Master’s cause to be put to shame, without
testifying against it. And why is all this? Simply because he loves
Him.
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If we love a person, we like to talk to him. We tell him all our
thoughts, and pour out all our heart to him. We find no difficulty in
discovering subjects of conversation. However silent and reserved
we may be to others. we find it easy to talk to a much-loved friend.
However often we may meet, we are never at a loss for matter to talk
about. We have always much to say, much to ask about, much to
describe, much to communicate. Well, it is just so between the true
Christian and Christ! The true Christian finds no difficulty in
speaking to his Savior. Every day he has something to tell Him, and
he is not happy unless he tells it. He speaks to Him in prayer every
morning and night. He tells Him his wants and desires, his feelings
and his fears. He asks counsel of Him in difficulty. He asks comfort
of Him in trouble. He cannot help it He must converse with his
Savior continually, or he would faint by the way. And why is this?
Simply because he loves Him.
Finally, if we love a person, we like to be always with him.
Thinking, and hearing, and reading, and occasionally talking are all
well in their way. But when we really love people we want something
more. We long to be always in their company. We wish to be
continually in their society, and to hold communion with them
without interruption or farewell. Well, it is just so between the true
Christian and Christ! The heart of a true Christian longs for that
blessed day when he will see his Master fare to face, and go out no
more. He longs to have done with sinning, and repenting, and
believing, and to begin that endless life when he shall see as he has
been seen, and sin no more. He has found it sweet to live by faith,
and he feels it will be sweeter still to live by sight. He has found it
pleasant to hear of Christ, and talk of Christ, and read of Christ.
How much more pleasant will it be to see Christ with his own eyes,
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and never to leave him any more! “Better,” he feels, “is the sight of
the eyes than the wandering of the desire.” Eccles. 6:9. And why is all
this? Simply because he loves Him.”
–J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots
(London: William Hunt and Company, 1889), 348-352
Page 37

SCRIPTURES
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends.” John 15:13
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a
multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to
anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15
“Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14
“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just
as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one
another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John
13:34-35
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear
has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in
love. We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:18-19
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of
these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15
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“Above all, be loving. This ties everything together
perfectly.” Colossians 3:14
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever
does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8
“Hate stirs up trouble, but love forgives all offenses.” Proverbs 10:12
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be
devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above
yourselves.” Romans 12:9-10
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of
adversity.” Proverbs 17:17
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take
great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice
over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord
require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly
with your God.” Micah 6:8
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one
another in love.” Ephesians 4:2
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died
for all, and therefore all died.” 2 Corinthians 5:14
“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without
expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be
great…" Luke 6:35
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“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:25
“But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to
anger and abounding in love…” Nehemiah 9:17
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his
wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the
hungry with good things.” Psalm 107:8-9
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and
sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.
Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the
whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’” Galatians 5:13-14
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who
loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8
“Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the
skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice
like the great deep.” Psalm 36:5-6
“Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us
as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2
“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in
the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there
is nothing in him to make him stumble.” 1 John 2:9-10
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“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should
be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for
us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone
has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity
on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not
love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”1 John 3:16-18
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and
only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love:
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another. ” 1 John 4:9-11
“His banner over me is love.” Song of Songs 2:4
“The commandments…are summed up in the one command, ‘Love
your neighbor as you love yourself.’ If you love others, you will never
do them wrong, to love, then, is to obey the whole Law.” Romans
13:9-10
“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love
is as strong as death…Many waters cannot quench love; rivers
cannot wash it away.” Song of Songs 8:6-7
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ
lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established
your faithfulness in heaven itself.” Psalm 89:2
“The earth is filled with your love, O Lord…” Psalm 119:64
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“You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so
now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and
sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.” 1 Peter 1:22
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39
“In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of
love, and of self-discipline.” 1 Timothy 1:7
“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of
believers, fear God, honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:17
“But be very careful…to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his
ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him
with all your heart and all your soul.” Joshua 22:5
“‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my
unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace
be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your
neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor
and a good name in the sight of God and man.” Proverbs 3:3-4
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“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each
other…” 1 Thes. 3:12
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one
another in love,… Ephesians 4:2
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a
sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.
1 Peter 1:22
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever
loves has been born of God and knows God… John 4:7
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who
is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those
who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what
more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the
same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect… Matthew 5:43-48
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves
me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love
him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him,
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“Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the
world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my
word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep
my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s
who sent me… John 14:21-24
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have
kept my Father’s
commandments and
abide in his love.
These things I have
spoken to you, that
my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may
be full. “This is my
commandment, that
you love one another
as I have loved you.
Greater love has no
one than this, that
someone lay down his
life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command
you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know
what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I
have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not
choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and
bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask
the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I
command you, so that you will love one another…John 15:9-17
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