Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 13:4
Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind ] The first the passive, the second the active, exercise of love; the one endurance, the other beneficence.
vaunteth not itself ] The word here used is derived from the Latin perperus, vicious, boastful. Both this and the next sentence have reference to the manner in which excellencies he actually possesses are regarded by one imbued with the spirit of love. Cf. Rom 12:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Charity suffereth long – Paul now proceeds to illustrate the nature of love, or to show how it is exemplified. His illustrations are all drawn from its effect in regulating our conduct toward others, or our contact with them. The reason why he made use of this illustration, rather than its nature as evinced toward God, was, probably, because it was especially necessary for them to understand in what way it should be manifested toward each other. There were contentions and strifes among them; there were of course suspicions, and jealousies, and heart-burnings; there would be unkind judging, the imputation of improper motives, and selfishness; there were envy, and pride, and boasting, all of which were inconsistent with love; and Paul therefore evidently designed to correct these evils, and to produce a different state of things by showing them what would be produced by the exercise of love. The word used here makrothumei denotes longanimity, slowness to anger or passion; longsuffering, patient endurance, forbearance. It is opposed to haste; to passionate expressions and thoughts, and to irritability. It denotes the state of mind which can bear long when oppressed, provoked, calumniated, and when one seeks to injure us; compare Rom 2:4; Rom 9:22; 2Co 6:6; Gal 5:22; Eph 4:2; Col 3:12; 1Ti 1:16; 2Ti 3:10; 2Ti 4:2; 1Pe 3:20; 2Pe 3:15.
And is kind – The word used here denotes to be good-natured, gentle, tender, affectionate. Love is benignant. It wishes well. It is not harsh, sour, morose, ill-natured. Tyndale renders it, is courteous. The idea is, that under all provocations and ill-usage it is gentle and mild. Hatred prompts to harshness, severity, unkindness of expression, anger, and a desire of revenge. But love is the reverse of all these. A man who truly loves another will be kind to him, desirous of doing him good; will be gentle, not severe and harsh; will be courteous because he desires his happiness, and would not pain his feelings. And as religion is love, and prompts to love, so it follows that it requires courtesy or true politeness, and will secure it; see 1Pe 3:8. If all people were under the influence of true religion, they would always be truly polite and courteous; for true politeness is nothing more than an expression of benignity, or a desire to promote the happiness of all around us.
Envieth not – ou zeloi. This word properly means to be zealous for or against any person or thing; that is, to be eager for, or anxious for or against anyone. It is used often in a good sense (1Co 12:31; See the 1Co 14:1, 1Co 14:39 notes; 2Co 11:2 note, etc.); but it may be used in a bad sense – to be zealous against a person; to be jealous of; to envy. Act 7:9; Act 17:5; Jam 4:2, ye kill and envy. It is in this sense, evidently, that it is used here, – as denoting zeal, or ardent desire against any person. The sense is, love does not envy others the happiness which they enjoy; it delights in their welfare; and as their happiness is increased by their endowments, their rank, their reputation, their wealth, their health, their domestic comforts, their learning etc., those who are influenced by love rejoice in all this. They would not diminish it; they would not embarrass them in the possession; they would not detract from that happiness; they would not complain or repine that they themselves are not so highly favored – To envy is to feel uneasiness, mortification, or discontent at the sight of superior happiness, excellence or reputation enjoyed by another; to repine at anothers prosperity; and to fret oneself on account of his real or fancied superiority.
Of course, it may be excited by anything in which another excels, or in which he is more favored than we are. It may be excited by superior wealth, beauty, learning, accomplishment, reputation, success. It may extend to any employment, or any rank in life. A man may be envied because he is happy while we are miserable; well, while we are sick; caressed, while we are neglected or overlooked; successful, while we meet with disappointment; handsome, while we are ill-formed; honored with office, while we are overlooked. He may be envied because he has a better farm than we have, or is a more skillful mechanic, or a more successful physician, lawyer, or clergyman. Envy commonly lies in the same line of business, occupation, or rank. We do not, usually envy a monarch, a conqueror, or a nobleman, unless we are aspiring to the same rank. The farmer does not usually envy the blacksmith, but another farmer; the blacksmith does not usually envy the schoolmaster, or the lawyer, but another man in the same line of business with himself.
The physician envies another physician more learned or more successful; the lawyer envies another lawyer; the clergyman is jealous of another clergyman. The fashionable female who seeks admiration or flattery on account of accomplishment or beauty envies another who is more distinguished and more successful in those things. And so the poet envies a rival poet and the orator, a rival orator; and the statesman, a rival statesman. The correction of all these things is love. If we loved others; if we rejoiced in their happiness, we should not envy them. They are not to blame for these superior endowments; but if those endowments are the direct gift of God, we should he thankful that he has made others happy; if they are the fruit of their own industry, and virtue, and skill and application, we should esteem them the more, and value them the more highly. They have not injured us; and we should not be unhappy, or seek to injure them, because God has blessed them, or because they have been more industrious, virtuous, and successful than we have.
Every person should have his own level in society, and we should rejoice in the happiness of all – Love will produce another effect. We should not envy them, because he that is under the influence of Christian love is more happy than those in the world who are usually the objects of envy. There is often much wretchedness under a clothing of purple and fine linen. There is not always happiness in a splendid mansion; in the caresses of the great; in a post of honor; in a palace, or on a throne. Alexander the Great wept on the throne of the world. Happiness is in the heart; and contentment, and the love of God, and the hope of heaven produce happiness which rank, and wealth, and fashion, and earthly honor cannot purchase. And could the sad and heavy hearts of those in elevated ranks of life be always seen; and especially could their end be seen, there would be no occasion or disposition to envy them.
Lord, what a thoughtless wretch was I,
To mourn, and murmur, and repine,
To see the wicked placed on high,
In pride and robes of honour shine!
But oh! their end, their dreadful end!
Thy sanctuary taught me so;
On slippry rocks I see them stand,
And fiery billows roll below.
Now let them boast how tall they are,
Ill never envy them again;
There they may stand with haughty eyes,
Till they plunge deep in endless pain.
Their fancied joys how fast they flee,
Like dreams as fleeting and as vain;
Their songs of softest harmony.
Are but a prelude to their pain,
Now I esteem their mirth and wine.
Too dear to purchase with my blood;
Lord, tis enough that thou art mine,
My life, my portion, and my God.
Vaunteth not itself – ( perpereuetai, from perperos, a boaster, braggart. Robinson.) The idea is that of boasting, bragging, vaunting. The word occurs no where else in the New Testament. Bloomfield supposes that it has the idea of acting precipitously, inconsiderately, incautiously; and this idea our translators have placed in the margin, he is not rash. But most expositors suppose that it has the notion of boasting, or vaunting of ones own excellencies or endowments. This spirit proceeds from the idea of superiority over others; and is connected with a feeling of contempt or disregard for them. Love would correct this, because it would produce a desire that they should be happy – and to treat a man with contempt is not the way to make him happy; love would regard others with esteem – and to boast over them is not to treat them with esteem; it would teach us to treat them with affectionate regard – and no man who has affectionate regard for others is disposed to boast of his own qualities over them. Besides, love produces a state of mind just the opposite of a disposition to boast. It receives its endowments with gratitude; regards them as the gift of God; and is disposed to employ them not in vain boasting, but in purposes of utility, in doing good to all others on as wide a scale as possible. The boaster is not a man who does good. To boast of talents is not to employ them to advantage to others. It will be of no account in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the sick and afflicted, or in saving the world. Accordingly, the man who does the most good is the least accustomed to boast; the man who boasts may be regarded as doing nothing else.
Is not puffed up – ( phusioutai). This word means to blow, to puff, to paint; then to inflate with pride, and vanity, and self-esteem. See the word explained in the note on 1Co 8:1. It perhaps differs from the preceding word, inasmuch as that word denotes the expression of the feelings of pride, vanity, etc., and this word the feeling itself. A man may be very proud and vain, and not express it in the form of boasting. That state is indicated by this word. If he gives expression to this feeling, and boasts of his endowments, that is indicated by the previous word. Love would prevent this, as it would the former. It would destroy the feeling, as well as the expression of it. It would teach a man that others had good qualities as well as he; that they had high endowments as well as he; and would dispose him to concede to them full credit for all that they have, and not to be vain-glorious of his own. Besides, it is not the nature of love to fill the mind in this manner. Pride, vanity, and even knowledge 1Co 8:1, may swell the mind with the conviction of self-importance; but love is humble, meek, modest, unobtrusive. A brother that loves a sister is not filled with pride or vanity on account of it; a man that loves the whole world, and desires its salvation, is not filled with pride and vanity on account of it. Hence, the Saviour, who had most love for the human race, was at the farthest possible remove from pride and vanity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Co 13:4-8
Charity suffereth long, and is kind.
Christian love
I. Suffers long. The Greek denotes having the power to hold the mind long, i.e., it is the opposite to rash anger. There are persons who, when they are afflicted by Providence, or provoked by man, are unable to hold their minds. Like the water which has mastered the dam, so do some mens unhappy feelings rise and overspread their families and neighbourhood. But when one has failed in his duty towards the charitable man it may grieve him, but he seeks for grace to bear the trial. He holds his mind long; and while not forgetful of the demands of justice, is influenced by the spirit of forgiveness.
II. Is not easily provoked. If a mans spirit be fully imbued with an affectionate complacency towards God and man, he is not thrown into bitter resentments by unjust usage. He is slow to wrath. Provocations must and will arise. The state of the health, mind, temperature, circumstances, will make a man more disposed to fretfulness or reserve, one day than another. Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! A family pique has overthrown an empire, and a bodily sensation directed the course and given the feeling to a mans life! But the spirit of the charitable man does not soon become acid. His injured feelings do not ferment into vinegar.
III. Beareth all things, or covereth all things. Hatred stirreth up strife, but love covereth all sins. As you would conceal a defect in your person, or cover up what was offensive on your grounds, so does the spirit of the gospel lead us to hide a brothers infirmities from the animadversion of others. The spirit of envy and revenge would lead you to speak of the misconduct of others with exasperated feelings. But here an objection has arisen. How unmanly is this charity which you commend! Are we then to be trampled upon? Not so: love can feel injured, and seek redress, but not recklessly and bitterly; and when in pursuit of her rights she is all the while calm and kind and universally benevolent.
IV. Endureth all things. Christian love remains under its burdens. Bad usage from man and affliction from God it teaches us to sustain. Let the conduct of Christ illustrate the spirit of His own religion. He was not impatient with the ignorant, or revengeful upon His persecutors. (Isaac Taylor.)
Features of love
These features are–
I. Manifold. There are some landscapes that are almost tame; some faces not featureless, but not marked and vivid. Not so with love. It is the landscape of Devonshire rather than Lincolnshire; of Switzerland rather than Holland. Read this description–there is no monotony, eye bright, brow clear, lips strong and definite.
II. Harmonious.
1. There is the presence of all that could complete character. Patience, kindness, joy, fortitude. Strength and beauty are in the sanctuary; the full diapason of the music of morals.
2. There is the absence of any element that could be disfigurement or discord. Envieth not, is not puffed up, etc.
III. Beautiful. There is not one virtue in this description that is not like a splendid Corinthian column. Nothing deforms the landscape, nothing disfigures the face. Rather every element heightens the loveliness. There is not only a wealth, but a wealth of the beauties of love.
IV. Permanent. The grass withers, the flowers fade; even the human face Divine grows old, the brow wrinkled, the eye dim, the mouth weak. The beauty of love is imperishable. Love never faileth. The word faileth pictures either a flower whose petals never fall off, or an actor who is never hissed off the stage, has its part to play on the stage of eternity. (U. R. Thomas.)
Christian love
Why has the Church assigned this chapter to Quinquagesima Sunday, the Sunday immediately preceding the season of Lent? We shall be able to answer that question if we consider what the season of Lent means, and why it has been set apart as a season of special humiliation, self-mortification, and prayer. Lent is the introduction to Good Friday and Easter Day. It is meant to prepare us better to realise and understand the great mystery of godliness, the unsearchable riches of Gods truth, so beautifully summed up in the words of Jesus (Luk 18:31-33). We cannot take one step forward into the knowledge of Gods truth without love. Love is the very first condition without which it is impossible to see even the outside of the great mystery of godliness. Let a man look at the Cross of Christ, and without the light of love it will be foolishness to him, Or let him look at the power of God manifested in the resurrection of Christ, and without the light of love: it will be a riddle to him. Love is the microscope which reveals the hidden and deep things which the careless eye scans without any sense of their inexpressible beauty and value. You have noticed, have you not, on a calm and sunny day, how softly and how beautifully the clear bright sky above us is reflected in the still surface of some deep pool of water? The sky, you know, is, as it were, received into the bosom of the water. Now, Gods truth is just like the sky above; and the heart that is full of love–love to God and love to man–the heart that is steeped in love is just like the still surface of the deep and steady pool. It can receive the truth into itself and reflect it. If we suffer the gusts of passion, of hatred, and envy, and malice, and uncharitableness, and ill-will to sweep over our hearts and ruffle them, we shall become quite incapable of receiving and discerning the truth. We shall be no longer like the steady lake which receives the glorious sky so beautifully into its bosom, and mirrors it back so faithfully. Surely, then, we have great need to pray for love; we have great need to pray that God will send His Holy Spirit, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity. Where shall we find anything fairer, anything pleasanter to behold or more joyful to possess than charity? Is selfishness, or ill-will, or pride, or vanity, or any other thing that is not of God, either more beautiful to look upon, or more delightful to hold, than charity? Oh, then, let us, as the apostle bids in the first words of the next chapter, follow after charity. So doing, we shall be laying hold of that which is imperishable. (Canon D. J. Vaughan.)
Love as a regulator
1. Every great engine is brought to precision of movement, to the quiet and steady exertion of power, by means of a governor or regulator. The world is full of jarrings and disturbances, and man finds a strange warfare going on in his own breast. Such was the state of things when Christ came. He saw the need of some Divine principle of life to act as a regulator both in the individual and in society. This regulator is love: the life of the soul; the all-pervasive and all-controlling energy of our spiritual being.
2. The apostle, in his vivid analysis of this Divine principle, looks upon it as embodied in character. He tells how this lovely personage will think, speak, and act in the midst of unloveliness and sin. He views love as a person in her attitude–
I. Towards self.
1. She is modest and unassuming. She vaunteth not herself. While she maintains a true self-respect and a wise estimate of her own worthiness she never displays arrogance or self-conceit.
2. She seeketh not her own. The belittling limitations of selfishness are not permitted to dwarf the outgoings of her generous heart.
II. Towards the truth.
1. This is one of affectionate desire and rejoicing. Here truth is also personified. Both experience profound satisfaction in the enlightenment and ennobling of man.
2. In reference to truth and its ultimate triumph love is also trustful and hopeful. She believeth all things. This does not signify credulity, for there is nothing so wise and discerning as love. Discerning but not doubtful, she rejoices to accept every revelation or manifestation of God.
3. Her temperament, or, better, her faith is buoyant and cheerful. She hopeth all things. Expects good instead of evil; is not foreboding and gloomy; trusts a kind Providence; believes in the possibilities of men.
III. Towards others.
1. Love suffereth long. In the face of provocation where others would be vehement with passion, she maintains her own serene dignity. This is almost identical with not easily provoked, beareth all things, endureth all things. These manifold expressions reveal love as a personage of great moral strength, as well as of unrivalled loveliness. She maintains constant equipoise of spirit.
2. Is kind. Her self-forgetful love makes her gracious, benignant, generous, and forgiving under all circumstances.
3. Envieth not. Competition is the most conspicuous trait of men in their relations one with another. To live without envy is a miracle of grace.
4. Does not behave itself unseemly. She has a delicate discernment of what is appropriate at all times and places; is never indecorous or unrefined.
5. Thinketh, or taketh not account of evil. Not suspicious or self-seeking by nature, she does not impute evil to others.
6. Rejoices not in unrighteousness. The world seems to take delight in the downfall of others. Yet love grieves and blushes at anothers immorality. (D. W. Pratt, M.A.)
Love suffereth
I. What? Unkindness, opposition, injury, etc.
II. How?
1. Long.
2. Patiently.
3. Without resentment.
III. Why?
1. For Christs sake.
2. For mans sake.
3. In hope. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Love suffereth long
I once undertook a duty the like of which I would never attempt again. A widow lady had a son–a poor prodigal. He had spent his all, and was fast making inroads upon his mothers little competence. Some friends had suggested that I should call upon her, and offer a gentle expostulation. I did so. I fancy that I can see her now–her white hair and her widows cap. She patiently heard my message, but she turned to me in tears, and said, Yes, Mr. Garrett, you are very kind, you mean well, and all you say is true; but still, after all, he is my son! (C. Garrett.)
The long-suffering of chastity
is not feebleness, cowardice, indifference, nor imbecility; but a principle perfectly consonant with the largest mental endowments, the loftiest aims and the noblest endeavours, with freedom of speech, firmness of purpose, and unwearied perseverance in well-doing; while it is totally opposed to all temporising expedients, vacillating policies, and inconstant endeavours. Christ is our example of long-suffering charity; yet witness how He clears His Fathers temple of the sacrilegious throng, and rebukes the wickedness of the Scribes and Pharisees. It is the depth of the river, not its shallowness, that makes it so smooth and gentle in its flow; and the mountain stream, which in the drought of summer went brawling from rock to rock and from pool to pool, with a thousand disturbances of its surface and misdirections of its course, now, when the autumn rains have fallen, or the winter snows have melted, and tributary torrents have swollen it to full flood, guides with an evenness and beauty between its green banks, with a placidity of strength and a unity of might which, while pleasant to behold, is terrible to withstand. Even so charity, subordinating all the feelings and faculties of the soul to one Divine impulse, and consecrating all to one holy and benevolent purpose, flows on with a mild and gentle majesty, undisturbed by rude speeches and unkind actions, and never diverted from its aim by the annoying accidents of society, straight forward to the vast ocean of blessed being, its destined union with God in Christ, and all that is great and good and happy in the universe. The tranquil meekness of charity, therefore, is perfectly consistent with true grandeur of soul, and of all true grandeur of soul is itself an essential element; even as the most perfect harmony consists with the mightiest tones in music, and the nicest cultivation of plants contributes to their most stately forms and most luxuriant fruitfulness, and the careful discipline of domestic animals results in the development of superior stature, with more strength of muscle, and greater fleetness of course, and whatever else belongs to the utmost perfection of their nature. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity disposes us meekly to bear injuries
Meekness is a great part of the Christian spirit (Mat 11:1-30). And meekness, as it respects injuries received from men, is called long-suffering, the fruit of the true Christian spirit (Gal 5:22; Eph 4:1-2; Col 3:12). Note–
I. Some of the kinds of injuries that we may receive from others. Some injure others–
1. In their estates by unfairness and dishonesty in their dealings.
2. In their good name, by reproaching or speaking evil of them behind their backs.
3. In their thoughts, by unjustly entertaining a low esteem of them (Job 5:21; Psa 140:3).
4. In their injurious treatment.
II. How such injuries ought meekly to be borne.
1. The nature of the duty enjoined. It implies that injuries should be borne–
(1) Without doing anything to revenge them.
(2) With the continuance of love in the heart, and without those passions that tend to interrupt and destroy it.
(3) Without our losing the quietness and repose of our own minds and hearts (Luk 21:19).
(4) With willingness to suffer much in our interests and feelings for the sake of peace, rather than do what we have opportunity, and perhaps the right, to do in defending ourselves (1Co 6:7).
2. Why it is called long-suffering.
(1) Because we ought meekly to bear not only a small injury, but also a good deal of injurious treatment from others.
(2) Because in some cases we should be willing to suffer a great while in our interests, before we improve opportunities of righting ourselves.
III. How that love, which is the sum of the Christian spirit, will dispose us meekly to bear such injuries.
1. Love to God and Christ has a tendency to dispose us to this; for it–
(1) Disposes us to imitate Him, and therefore disposes us to such long-suffering as He manifests (Exo 34:6; Rom 2:4; 1Ti 1:12-16).
(2) Disposes us thus to express our gratitude for His long-suffering exercised toward us.
(3) Tends to humility, which is one main root of a meek and long-suffering spirit (Eph 4:2).
(4) Disposes men to have regard to the hand of God in the injuries they suffer, and not only to the hand of man, and meekly to submit to His will therein (2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 16:10).
(5) Sets us very much above the injuries of men.
(a) Because nothing can ever really hurt those that are the true friends of God (Rom 8:28; 1Pe 3:13).
(b) Because the more we love God, the more we shall place all our happiness in Him.
2. Love to our neighbour will dispose us to the same. Long-suffering and forbearance are always the fruit of love (Eph 4:1-2; Pro 10:12).
Conclusion: The subject–
1. Exhorts us all to the duty of meekly bearing the injuries that may be received from others. Consider–
(1) The example that Christ has set us (2Co 10:1). He meekly bore innumerable and very great injuries from men.
(2) If we are not disposed meekly to bear injuries, we are not fitted to live in the world, for in it we must expect to meet with many injuries from men (Mat 10:16).
(3) In this way we shall be most above injuries. He that has established such a spirit that the injuries received from others do not disturb the calmness of his mind, lives, as it were, out of their reach.
(4) The spirit of Christian long-suffering, and of meekness in bearing injuries, is a mark of true greatness of soul (Pro 16:32; Pro 14:29; Jam 3:13).
(5) The spirit of Christian long-suffering and meekness is commended to us by the example of the saints.
(6) This is the way to be rewarded with the exercise of the Divine long-suffering toward us (Psa 18:25-26; Mat 7:2; Mat 7:14-15).
2. But some, in their hearts, may object–
(1) That the injuries they receive from men are intolerable.
(a) Do you think the injuries you have received from your fellow-man are more than you have offered to God?
(b) Do you not hope that as God hitherto has, so He will still bear with you in all this, and that notwithstanding all, He will exercise toward you His infinite love and favour?
(c) When you think of such long-suffering on Gods part, do you not approve of it, and think well of it, and that it is not only worthy and excellent, but exceeding glorious?
(d) If such a course be excellent and worthy to be approved of in God, why is it not so in yourself?
(e) Would you be willing, for all the future, that God should no longer bear with the injuries you may offer Him, and the offences you commit against Him?
(f) Did Christ turn again upon those who injured and insulted and trod on Him, when He was here below; and was He not injured far more grievously than ever you have been?
(2) That those who have injured you, persist in it, and do not at all repent, but go on doing it still. But what opportunity could there be for long-suffering, if injury were not persisted in long?
(3) That your enemies will be encouraged to go on with their injuries. But you do not know this, for you have not an insight into the future, nor into the hearts of men. And, beside, God will undertake for you if you obey His commands; and He is more able to put a stop to the wrath of man than you are (Rom 12:19). (Jon. Edwards.)
The patience of love
I. Its manifestations. There may be a world where love is not strained and taxed as it is here. Here there is certainly scope for the manifestation of patience in–
1. The relationships of life.
2. The antagonisms of life.
3. The philanthropy of life.
And in all these it is claimed and will be manifested in–
(1) Gentleness,
(2) Unsuspiciousness,
(3) Tolerance,
(4) Forgivingness,
(5) Continuance.
II. Its beauty. Love is–
1. Sensitive, yet patient. Not hard and servile.
2. Anxious, yet patient. Eager, not apathetic.
III. The explanation. Because love cares for the beloved rather than for self. Self is thrown away in the interests of others, the welfare of others, This patience and all the powers of love are in its self-sacrifice. (U. R. Thomas.)
The patience of Christs love
God suffereth Himself to be conceived in the womb of a mother, and abideth the time: and being born, waiteth to grow up: and being grown up, is not eager to be acknowledged, but putteth a further slight upon Himself, and is baptized by His own servant, and repelleth the attacks of the tempter by words only. When from the Lord He became the Master, teaching man to escape death, having well learned, for salvations sake, the forgiving spirit of offended patience: He strove not: He cried not: the shattered reed He did not break, the smoking flax He did not quench–God did put His own Spirit in His Son with perfection of patience. None that desired to cleave to Him did He not receive: no mans table or house did He despise. Yea, Himself ministered to the washing of His disciples feet (even of him who betrayed Him). He scorned not the sinners nor the publicans. He was not angry with that city which would not receive Him. He healed the unthankful. He gave place to those who laid snares for Him. He, at whose side, if He had desired it, legions of angels from heaven would at one word have been present, approved not the avenging sword of even a single disciple. In Malchus the patience of the Lord was wounded. Wherefore also He cursed the works of the sword for ever after, and by the restoration of soundness to him whom He had not Himself hurt, He made satisfaction through patience, the mother of mercy and charity. The Lord Jesus is long-suffering and kind: is patient and gentle. I pass in silence the Crucifixion, for it was for that that He came in the world: yet, was there need of insult, alas! that He might undergo death? But being about to leave the world, He desired to be filled to the full with the pleasure of patience. He is spit upon, is beaten, is mocked, is foully clothed, and still more foully crowned. Wondrous constancy in long-suffering and patience! (Tertullian.)
Charity is considerate
Louis XIV in a gay party at Versailles thought he perceived an opportunity of relating a facetious story. He commenced but ended abruptly and insipidly. One of the company soon after leaving the room, the king said, I am sure you must all have observed how uninteresting my anecdote was. I did not recollect till I began that the turn of the narrative reflected very severely on the immediate ancestor of the Prince Armigue, who has just quitted us; and on this as on every occasion, I think it far better to spoil a good story than to distress a worthy man. (W. Baxendale.)
Love is kind
1. In spirit.
2. In action.
3. To all.
4. At all times.
5. Without selfish ends. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
The kindness of love
Like the last word, this is one in frequent use by our apostle. He employs it–
1. As an avowal of his own attitude to men.
2. As an injunction to others.
3. As a description of God.
The thing he here indicates is rather the fragrance of the whole flower of love than any one of its petals, the lustre of the entire diamond rather than any one of its facets. Kindness is–
I. A charm of the Christian life. The word is a beautiful word, and is the expression of a beautiful grace; sometimes being rendered gentleness, goodness–in the Rheims version-benignity. It is not simply a manner, but a moral loveliness that shines through all manner.
II. An obligation of the Christian life. It is not an ornament to be worn at option, but the constant garb of our life, not a work of supererogation, but a necessary, essential, and elemental duty. (U. R. Thomas.)
The kindness of Christian charity
It is like the teeming cloud, emptying its copious blessing upon the thirsty soil. It is like the swelling stream, overflowing its banks to enrich the plantations of the valley. It is like the fruitful field, pouring its golden harvest into the exhausted granary. It is like the generous oak, shaking the genial dew from its branches upon the humbler herbage at its roots. Nay, it is like Gods incarnate love, walking the sinful world, chasing sorrow from the abodes of men, shedding the light of immortality into the valley of the shadow of death, and amidst the dissonances of human selfishness singing a melody which charms the angels down from heaven! (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity benignant
In things lawful and things indifferent it bends to the partialities and predilections of others, studying to please all for their good to edification. It would not needlessly crush the wing of an insect, much less inflict upon a rational and immortal being an evil remediless and everlasting. It is eminently pacific and conciliatory; as far as possible without any compromise of the Christian law, endeavouring to live peaceably with all men, and labouring in many ways to promote the harmony of human society. As the sea is composed of drops, and the earth is compacted of atoms, and the daylight is only a profusion of inappreciable rays, and forest and field are refreshed and beautified by millions of imperceptible particles of dew, so it is the aggregate of little things that makes the happiness or unhappiness of domestic and social life; and charity is attentive to the minutest circumstance that can affect the comfort and welfare of mankind, planting here a lily and there a rose where she cannot convert the whole desert into a paradise, pouring in a thousand tiny rivulets to swell the great ocean of human blessedness, and thus impressing the universal conviction of her kindness. (J. Angell James.)
Longsuffering and kindness
Dr. MCrie, in his life of the late Sir Andrew Agnew, M.P., says; We were speaking one day of the difficulty of confessing Christ before the world. It was affecting to hear Sir Andrew acknowledge this difficulty, who had borne Christs reproach so manfully in all places. He told me, that when he first began to take up the cause of the Sabbath, there were many worldly men who disliked him so much that they seemed anxious to stare him out of their company, and that he had felt this particularly at the New Club. One honourable baronet, not satisfied with this species of annoyance, when he saw that Sir Andrew had courage enough to despise it, and to frequent the club regularly every day notwithstanding, began speaking at him, and acting as rudely as he could towards him. One morning Sir Andrew was waiting for his breakfast at the club, when the baronet to whom I allude came in, apparently in great agitation. Sir Andrew, perceiving this, asked him if anything was wrong; to which he replied that his lady had last night had an attack of paralysis, and that she was dangerously ill. Sir Andrew said he felt for him sincerily, and expressed his sympathy warmly. Next morning he met him again with his two sons, who had come to see their mother, and he asked for Lady–with much interest. The answer was that he had been sitting up with her all night, and that she was no better. Ultimately, however, she did recover; and on one occasion afterwards, the baronet referred to came up to Sir Andrew, and with feeling that did him great honour, said, Sir Andrew, there are many people who like to laugh at you and abuse you, because of your Sabbath principles, and I confess that I have been among the number, but I trust I shall never so far forget myself again.
Charity disposes us to do good
I. The nature of the duty of doing good to others. And here three things are to be considered, viz.
1. The act. Persons may do good–
(1) To the souls of others, which is the most excellent way of doing good.
(2) In outward things, and for this world (Mat 25:35-36). in three ways Christianity requires us to do good to others.
(a) To give to others (Luk 6:38).
(b) To do for others (1Th 2:9; Heb 6:10).
(c) To suffer for others (Gal 6:2; 1Jn 3:16).
2. The objects of this act are often spoken of in the Scriptures by the expression, our neighbour (Luk 10:29, etc.). We are to do good–
(1) Both to the good and to the bad (Mat 5:43).
(2) To friends and enemies (Mat 5:44).
(3) To the thankful and the unthankful (Luk 6:35).
3. The manner in which we should do good to others. This is expressed in the single word freely. This seems implied in the words of the text; for to be kind is to have a disposition freely to do good. And this doing good freely implies–
(1) That our doing good be not in a mercenary spirit (Luk 6:35; Luk 14:12-14).
(2) That we do it cheerfully or heartily, and with real good-will to the one we would benefit (1Pe 4:9; 2Co 9:7; Rom 12:8; Deu 15:10).
(3) That we do it liberally and bountifully (2Co 9:8; 2Co 9:11; Deu 15:8; Pro 11:25; 2Co 9:6).
II. That a Christian spirit will dispose us thus to do good to others. And this appears from two considerations.
1. The main thing in that love which is the sum of the Christian spirit is benevolence, or good-will to others (Luk 2:14).
2. The most proper and conclusive evidence that such a principle is real and sincere is its being effectual. The proper and conclusive evidence of our wishing or willing to do good to another is to do it. The Scriptures therefore speak of doing good as the proper and full evidence of love (1Jn 3:18-19; Jam 2:15-16).
Conclusion:
1. What a great honour it is to be made an instrument of good in the world (Gen 12:2). Eastern kings and governors used to assume to themselves the title of benefactors, that is, doers of good, as the most honourable that could think of (Luk 22:25).
2. Thus freely to do good to others, is but to do to them as we would have them do to us.
3. How kind God and Christ have been to us (2Co 8:9; 1Pe 1:4).
4. What great rewards are promised to those that freely do good to others (Psa 18:25; Act 20:35; Mat 25:34-40). (Jon. Edwards.)
Charity envieth not.—
Charity not envious
To see that envy is utterly incompatible with charity, we need but glance at some of its characteristic qualities and fruits.
I. Charity is disinterested goodness; envy is unmingled selfishness. It would grasp all riches, absorb all enjoyment, engross all admiration and esteem. Every superior and every rival would it destroy, and live alone in an impoverished or depopulated universe. The envious man, like Gideons fleece, would absorb every particle of moisture that falls from heaven, and leave all around him dewless as the desert.
II. Charity is the brotherhood of the heart; envy is as malicious as it is selfish. Joseph was hated by his brethren because he was beloved by his father, and because his dream made him their superior. And Haman was full of indignation against Mordecai because he held a high place in the favour of the king. And the same evil spirit inflamed the wrath of Saul against David. The envious man resents the good of others, as if it were an injury to himself. Envy is like the ocean, which because it cannot shine as the firmament does, would shroud the starry lustre of the latter with its vapoury exhalations. Nay, in order to enjoy the glimmer of its own rushlight, it would extinguish the sun and leave the world in darkness.
III. Charity is a meek and gentle spirit; envy is as outrageous as it is malicious. It is cruel as death and insatiable as the grave. There is in its hate an inhuman fierceness, in its action a diabolical fury, which respect no dignity, reverence no sanctity, pause abashed at no splendid array of virtue. What slew Caesar, and banished Cicero and put out the eyes of Belisarius, but a merit too great for wealth to reward or envy to endure? Envy murdered Abel at his altar, and nailed the Son of God upon the Cross. Envy first blighted the bloom of paradise, and ever since it has raged through the scene of its ruin, filling the earth with dire confusion, and every evil work; and well saith the wisest of ancient monarchs, Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous, but who can stand before envy?
IV. Charity is ready unto every good work; envy is mischievous. There is no injury it would not inflict upon its happier neighbour. It would poison your peace and blacken your fame. Who shall set bounds to its wickedness, or limit its baleful power? Has it not rifled the richest treasuries, thwarted the shrewdest policies, conquered the mightiest warriors, and subverted the proudest thrones? If there is any exemption from the inflictions of envy, it is only in the case of those who have nothing for which they can be envied, whose obscurity is their fortress, whose poverty is their panoply. The tornado may spare the willows, but woe to the oaks! Never pitying, never relenting, envy follows its victim to the very grave, and tramples upon his ashes, and desecrates his memory, and persecutes his posterity.
V. Charity is free from deceit; envy is hypocritical. Pride, anger, gluttony, drunkenness, etc., are ordinarily frank and open. But envy, conscious that it is an unnatural disposition, having more the rancour of a fiend than the temper of a man, and branded by common consent with a stigma deep and foul, conceals its real nature. As Bishop Ball says, It is indeed a most reputable and orthodox vice, a regular church-going sin, dressing like virtue and talking like piety. It has a great zeal for religion, a keen sense of public justice, and is much shocked at the inconsistencies of good people. It exults when the hypocrite is unmasked and exclaims–Ah! I told you so; I always suspected him. It is also most benevolent; and when adversity overtakes a brother, prays devoutly that it may be the means of promoting his humility and other Christian graces.
VI. Charity is fraught with Divine peace and contentment; envy is miserable. Hating and hated, can it know anything of a good conscience and a cheerful mind? Deceitful and treacherous, must it not be like the troubled sea that cannot rest? Baffled and chagrined, will it not become desperate, and turn its fangs upon itself, and devour its own vitals? Conclusion: Charity and envy are as much opposed as light and darkness. Charity is from above; envy is from beneath. Charity is the fruit of the Spirit; envy is the work of the flesh. Charity is the outgrowth of the new heart; envy is the product of the carnal mind. Charity is as pure as the mountain stream; envy is as foul as the city sewer. Charity is as harmless as the gentle dove; envy is as deadly as the vipers fang. Charity is as tranquil as the summer evening; envy is as restless as the troubled sea. Charity is as tender and pitiful as an angel; envy is as heartless and cruel as a demon. Charity is the spirit of Christ and the temper of heaven, envy is the rankling selfishness which makes the immitigable woe of the lost, the wormwood and gall transfused through all the faculties and feelings of a reprobate immortality. No two principles could be more antagonistic and irreconcilable. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity inconsistent with an envious spirit
I. The nature of envy.
1. A spirit of dissatisfaction with, and opposition to, the prosperity and happiness of others as compared with our own (Est 5:13; Num 11:29; Gen 37:11).
2. A dislike of their persons for it (Est 5:9; Gen 37:4-5).
II. Wherein a Christian spirit is the opposite of such a spirit. A Christian spirit–
1. Disallows of the exercise and expressions of such a spirit.
2. Tends to mortify its principle and disposition in the heart (Php 4:11).
3. Disposes us to rejoice in the prosperity of others (Rom 12:15).
III. Why it is that a Christian spirit is thus the opposite of a spirit of envy.
1. A spirit and practice entirely contrary to an envious spirit is much insisted on in the precepts of Christ and His apostles (Rom 13:13; 1Co 3:3; 2Co 12:20; Gal 5:21, etc.).
2. These precepts are strongly enforced–
(1) By the Christian scheme of doctrine. For there we are told how God has not begrudged us His well-beloved Son, nor the highest honour and blessedness in and through Him. How far Christ was from begruding us anything that He could do for or give us!
(2) By its history. And particularly is this true of the history of the life of Christ, and the example He has set us.
3. The true spirit of Christian love will dispose us to yield to the authority of these precepts, and to the influence of the motives enforcing them.
(1) By its own immediate tendency; for love does not grudge, but rejoices at the good of those who are loved.
(2) By inclining us to humility. It is pride that is the great root and source of envy.
Conclusion: The subject–
1. Should lead us to examine ourselves, whether we are in any degree under the influence of an envious spirit.
2. Exhorts us to disallow and put away everything approaching to it. (J. Edwards.)
On envy
Envy is a sensation of uneasiness arising from the advantages which others are supposed to possess above us, accompanied with malignity towards those who possess them. The character of an envious man is universally odious. All disclaim it; and they who feel themselves under the influence of this passion carefully conceal it. But it is proper to consider that among all our passions, both good and bad, there are many different gradations. Sometimes they swim on the surface of the mind, without producing any internal agitation. They proceed no farther than the beginnings of passion. Allayed by our constitution, or tempered by the mixture of other dispositions, they exert no considerable influence on the temper. Though the character in which envy forms the ruling passion be one too odious to be common, yet some tincture of this evil disposition mixes with most characters in the world. The chief grounds of envy may be reduced to three.
I. Accomplishments, or endowments of the mind. The chief endowment for which man deserves to be valued is virtue. This forms the most estimable distinction among mankind. Yet this, which may appear surprising, never forms any ground of envy. No man is envied for being more just, more generous, more patient, or forgiving than others. This may, in part, be owing to virtue producing in every one who beholds it that high degree of respect which extinguishes envy. But probably it is more owing to the good opinion which every one entertains of his own moral qualities. Some virtues, or at least the seeds of them, he finds within his breast. Others he vainly attributes to himself. Those in which he is plainly deficient he undervalues; on the whole he is as worthy as his neighbour. The case is different with regard to those mental abilities and powers which are ascribed to others. As long as these are exerted in a sphere of action remote from ours, and not brought into competition with talents of the same kind, to which we have pretensions, they create no jealousy. They are viewed as distant objects, in which we have not any concern. Even then, envy is, properly speaking, not grounded on the talents of others. For here, too, our self-complacency brings us relief; from the persuasion that, were we thoroughly known, and full justice done to us, our abilities would be found not inferior to those of our rivals. What properly occasions envy, is the fruit of the accomplishments of others; the pre-eminence which the opinion of the world bestows, or which we dread it will bestow, on their talents above ours. Mere rivality, inspired by emulation, would carry no reproach; were not that rivality joined with obliquity, and a malignant spirit; did it not lead to secret detraction, and unfair methods of diminishing the reputation of others. Let such as are addicted to this infirmity consider how much they degrade themselves. Superior merit of any kind always rests on itself. Conscious of what it deserves, it disdains low competitions and jealousies. They who are stung with envy, especially when they allow its malignity to appear, confess a sense of their own inferiority; and, in effect, pay homage to that merit from which they endeavour to detract. But in order to eradicate the passion, and to cure the disquiet which it creates, let such persons further consider how inconsiderable the advantage is which their rivals have gained by any superiority over them. They whom you envy are themselves inferior to others who follow the same pursuits. Public applause is the most fluctuating and uncertain of all rewards. Within what narrow bounds is their fame confined? With what a number of humiliations is it mixed? To how many are they absolutely unknown? Among those who know them, how many censure and decry them?
II. Advantages of fortune, superiority in birth, rank, and riches, even qualifications of body and form, become grounds of envy. Among external advantages those which relate to the body ought certainly to hold the lowest place, as in the acquisition of them we can claim no merit, but must ascribe them entirely to the gift of nature. Yet envy has often showed itself here in full malignity. It would have proved a blessing to multitudes to have wanted those advantages for which they are envied. How frequently has beauty betrayed the possessors of it into many a snare, and brought upon them many a disaster? Short-lived at the best, and trifling at any rate, in comparison with the higher and more lasting beauties of the mind. But of all the grounds of envy among men superiority in rank and fortune is the most general. Hence the malignity which the poor commonly bear to the rich, as ingrossing to themselves all the comforts of life. Alas! all this envious disquietude which agitates the world, arises from a deceitful figure which imposes upon the public view. False colours are hung out: the real state of men is not what it seems to be. The order of society requires a distinction of ranks to take place; but, in point of happiness, all men come much nearer to equality than is commonly imagined. The poor man possesses not, it is true, some of the conveniences and pleasures of the rich; but, in return, he is free from many embarrassments to which they are subject. When you think of the enjoyments you want, think also of the troubles from which you are free. Often, did you know the whole, you would be inclined to pity the state of those whom you now envy.
III. Superior success in the course of worldly pursuits is a frequent ground of envy. Among all ranks of men competitions arise. Wherever any favourite object is pursued in common, jealousies seldom fail to take place among those who are equally desirous of attaining it. I could easily bear, says one, that some others should be more famous, should be richer than I. It is but just that this man should enjoy the distinction to which his splendid abilities have raised him. It is natural for that man to command the respect to which he is entitled by his birth or his rank. But when I and another have started in the race of life, upon equal terms, and in the same rank, that he, without any pretension to uncommon merit, should have suddenly so far outstripped me; should have engrossed all that public favour to which I am no less entitled than he;–this is what I cannot bear; my spirit swells with indignation at this undeserved treatment I have suffered from the world. Complaints of this nature are often made by them who seek to justify the envy which they bear to their more prosperous neighbours. But if such persons wish not to be thought unjust, let me desire them to inquire whether they have been altogether fair in the comparison they have made of their own merit with that of their rivals? and whether they have not themselves to blame more than the world for being left behind in the career of fortune? The world is not always blind or unjust in conferring its favours. Supposing, however, the world to have been unjust with regard to you, this will not vindicate malignity and envy towards a more prosperous competitor. You may accuse the world, but what reason have you to bear ill-will to him? You, perhaps, preferred the enjoyment of your ease to the stirs of a busy or to the cares of a thoughtful life. Ought you then to complain if the more laborious have acquired what you were negligent to gain? Consider that if you have obtained less preferment you have possessed more indulgence and ease. The causes that nourish envy are principally two, and two which, very frequently, operate in conjunction: these are pride and indolence. The connection of pride with envy is obvious and direct. The high value which the proud set on their own merit, the unreasonable claims which they form on the world are perpetual sources, first of discontent, and next of envy. When indolence is joined to pride the disease of the mind becomes more inveterate and incurable. Pride leads men to claim more than they deserve. Indolence prevents them from obtaining what they might justly claim. Disappointments follow; and spleen, malignity, and envy rage within them. As, therefore, we value our virtue or our peace, let us guard against these two evil dispositions of mind. Let us be modest in our esteem, and by diligence study to acquire the esteem of others. So shall we shut up the avenues that lead to many a bad passion, and shall learn, in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content. Finally, in order to subdue envy, let us bring often into view those religious considerations which regard us particularly as Christians. Let us remember how unworthy we are in the sight of God; and how much the blessings which each of us enjoy are beyond what we deserve. Let us nourish reverence and submission to that Divine government which has appointed to every one such a condition in the world as is fittest for them to possess. (H. Blair, D.D.)
Charity not envious
Envy is one of the most malignant and, if we except vanity alone, the most empty of all human passions. Other affections have some good thing in view either real or apprehended; but envy has nothing for its object except an ill-natured pleasure in the hurt of our neighbour. Charity is quite inconsistent with envy, and, whenever it prevails, expels that malicious passion from the heart. Has God bestowed on others larger measures of knowledge and understanding, of honour and respect, of riches, of power and authority, of any blessing, spiritual or temporal? The charitable man, though eclipsed in these respects, does not look up to those who eclipse him with an envious eye. He takes not an ill-natured pleasure in the disappointments and misfortunes, in the decline and fall of those above him He does not attempt, by malicious detraction, to depreciate the merits of those who excel; and, though unable to rise to their standard, he does not enviously endeavour to bring them down to his own, and to keep all mankind on a level with himself He considers worldly blessings as the gifts of God, who may bestow them on what persons and in what degrees He pleases; and, satisfied with his own condition, he rejoices to see the glory of the giver advanced and the ends of the gift answered, who ever may be chosen by Providence for the accomplishment of these ends. (A. Donnan.)
Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.—
Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
I. The evils indicated.
1. Assumption.
2. Vanity.
II. Their offensiveness. They imply–
1. Contempt for.
2. Disregard of the feelings and claims of others.
III. Their consequent inconsistency with love. Love–
1. Is humble in spirit and deportment.
2. Willingly offends none. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Charity vaunteth not itself
It was my custom in my youth, says a celebrated Persian writer, to rise from my sleep, to watch, pray, and read the Koran. One night as I was thus engaged, my father, a man of practised virtues, awoke. Behold! said I to him, thy other children are lost in irreligious slumbers, while I alone wake to praise God. Son of my soul, said he, it is better to sleep than to wake to remark the faults of thy brethren. (Family Circle.)
Vaunting inconsistent with love
We think we need not love God less, nor our neighbourless, by a little harmless talking of ourselves. But we do. We rob God, because in vaunting we forget that it all comes from Him, and we cannot possibly have anything whatever to vaunt or to boast of. We rob our neighbour because, unconsciously perhaps, we put him in a lower position than ourselves, and look down upon him, or we may make him envious of us. And we rob ourselves, because we deprive ourselves of the reward of any good we may have done. The grace of charity is deprived of its bloom, or indeed of its fruit, by vaunting or boasting. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
Diffidence of love
Of all feelings, there is none of which men need be so little ashamed of as true love, and none which so much puts on all the appearance of shame. For love is born behind blushing defences. And after it has won its victories and subdued to itself the whole of life, it then more than ever has in it the necessity of hiding itself. For love, like the blood in the human body, though it be the cause of all the life that appears, is itself hidden within the veins and never seen. (H. W. Beecher.)
Charity not proud
To vaunt is to boast, to make an ostentatious display of our own qualities or achievements, it is the language of pride.
I. the nature of pride.
1. It is not to be confounded with that courtly demeanour which is so natural to some people, and so suitable to certain ranks in society. This is the use of our dignity, not the abuse of it.
2. It is an over-valuing of self. Was there ever a time when this hateful vice was more prevalent than it is at present? Does not the age vaunt its enlightenment and its progress? Do not persons of all classes vaunt their superiority in one respect or another? There is a pride of birth, of wealth, of power, of knowledge, of morality, and even of humility.
II. The repugnance of such a spirit to charity. Charity is unselfish; pride is one of the many forms of selfishness. Charity yields to its neighbour due honour; pride claims all respect and honour for its own dignity. Charity accords to every man his proper place and merit; pride aims to impress its brother with a mortifying sense of his inferiority. Charity tenderly regards your sensibilities, and carefully avoids giving you offence; pride tramples upon all courtesy, and cares not whom nor how deeply it wounds. Charity sheds a benign influence over the heart, expanding it to all that is noble and magnanimous; pride folds the soul in upon itself, freezing up the genial springs of sympathy and affection. Charity is the spirit of those who veil their faces before the throne of God, and the temper of Him who for our sake humbled Himself to the death of the Cross; pride is the spirit of rebellion which of old, seeking to exalt itself against the God of love, plunged headlong into hell. Charity knows something of angelic blessedness; pride shares the misery of Satan. (J. Cross, D.D.)
The spirit of charity an humble spirit
As, on the one hand, it prevents us from envying others what they possess, so, on the other, it keeps us from glorying in what we possess ourselves.
I. What humility is.
1. A sense of our own comparative meanness.
(1) As regards God (Gen 18:27).
(2) As regards our fellow-creatures. Man is very mean as compared with multitudes of a superior rank in the universe, and most men are mean in comparison with many of their fellow men. He that has a right sense and estimate of himself in comparison with God, will be likely to have his eyes open to see himself aright in all respects. All this would apply to men considered as unfallen beings. But humility in fallen men implies a sense of a tenfold meanness.
(a) Mans natural meanness consists in his being infinitely below God in natural perfection, and in Gods being infinitely above him in greatness, power, wisdom, majesty, etc.
(b) The truly humble man, since the fall, is also sensible of his moral meanness and vileness (Isa 6:5; Job 42:5-6; Psa 51:17; Isa 57:15; Mat 5:3).
2. A disposition to a corresponding behaviour and conduct. Without this there is no true humility. The devils and damned spirits see much of their comparative littleness before God in some respects. Note–
(1) Some things in our behaviour toward God to which humility will dispose us.
(a) To acknowledge our meanness or littleness before God.
(b) To be distrustful of ourselves and to depend only on God.
(c) To renounce all the glory of the good we have or do, and to give it all to God (Psa 115:1).
(d) Wholly to subject ourselves to God.
(2) It disposes to a behaviour toward men answerable to our comparative meanness. It tends–
(a) To prevent an aspiring and ambitious behaviour amongst men (Jer 45:5; Rom 12:16).
(b) An ostentatious behaviour (Mat 23:5).
(c) An arrogant and assuming behaviour (Php 2:3; Eph 3:8).
(d) A scornful behaviour (Rom 12:16).
(e) A wilful and stubborn behaviour (Rom 12:19; 1Co 6:7; Mat 5:40-41).
(f) A levelling behaviour (Rom 13:7; Tit 3:1).
(g) A self-justifying behaviour (Jam 5:16; Psa 141:5).
II. The spirit of charity is an humble spirit.
1. It implies and tends to humility.
(1) It implies humility. And this appears plain from two considerations: because a sense of the loveliness of God is peculiarly that discovery of God that works humility; and because, when God is truly loved, He is loved as an infinite superior.
(2) It also tends to humility.
(a) Love inclines the heart to that spirit and behaviour that are becoming the distance from the beloved. The devils know their distance from God, but they are not reconciled to it. And so love to man, arising from love to God, disposes to an humble behaviour toward them, inclining us to give them all the honour and respect that are their due.
(b) Love to God tends to an abhorrence of sin against God, and so to our being humbled before Him for it.
2. It tends to draw forth such exercises of love as do especially imply and tend to it. The gospel leads us–
(1) To love God as an infinitely condescending God
(2) To love Christ as an humble person (Php 2:6-8; Mat 10:24; Mat 01:25; Mat 20:25-28; Joh 13:13-16).
(3) To love Christ as a crucified Saviour.
(4) To humble exercises of love, because it leads us to love Christ as one that was crucified for our sakes.
Conclusion:
1. Note the excellency of a Christian spirit (Pro 12:26; 1Pe 3:4).
2. Examine yourselves, and see if you are indeed of an humble spirit (Hab 2:4; Jam 4:6).
3. Let strangers to the grace of God seek that grace, that they may thus attain to this spirit of humility (Pro 16:5; Pro 6:16; Pro 29:23; 2Sa 22:28; Isa 23:9).
4. Let all be exhorted earnestly to seek much of an humble spirit, and to endeavour to be humble in all their behaviour toward God and men. (Jon. Edwards.)
Charity not vain
Charity endeavours to conceal its good works as the sea conceals its pearls and the earth its gold. It is not the ambitious sunflower that lifts its gaudy head on high, and expands its inodorous petals to the broad light of the noon; but the unobtrusive violet that hides its delicate beauty in the bank of a shady brook, and from its green seclusion perfumes the dewy twilight. Intent only on doing good, it cares nothing for the applause of the world, and seeks to build no temple to its own fame. Aming only at blessing others, it is comparatively a small matter whether it win anothers blessing or incur anothers curse. It sends no herald to announce its advent, blows no trumpet to proclaim its purpose, unfurls no banner to catch the eye of the world, saith to no son of Rechab, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord; but, like its Divine example, goes about doing good, without causing its voice to be heard in the street, or letting the left hand know what the right hand doeth; and like those holy and blessed creatures who minister to the heirs of salvation and shed a thousand blessings from wings unseen, it conceals its beneficent agency even from its beneficiaries. King Hezekiah lost his royal treasures by an ostentatious display of them to the Assyrian embassy; and Chrysostom tells us that virtues, like precious stones, must be concealed to be kept; for if we display them publicly, we lose them, and vain-glory is the one thief that has robbed many of their treasure laid up in heaven. But this celestial visitant in the abodes of men carries her jewels in a safe casket–hides them in her own heart, while she herself lies hidden in the secret place of the Most High, and abides secure under the shadow of the Almighty. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity opposed to vanity and pride
The Siamese Twins seem to have been two perfect human beings, each possessing all the functions of life complete, though so bound together that the sundering of the ligament would probably have been fatal to both.
I. Thus pride and vanity are two vices so closely related that they are seldom found apart, yet so distinct that we ordinarily have no difficulty in their identification and discrimination. Like two plants springing from the same root, they are both the products of selfishness, alike partaking of its qualities, but differing in form and aspect. Pride is an undue estimate of self; vanity is an inordinate desire of the esteem of others. The former makes a man odious; the latter renders him ridiculous.
II. Charity is equally opposed to both. Humble, it is opposed to pride; modest, it is opposed to vanity. Humility and modesty, though as intimately related to each other, are as perfectly distinct as pride and vanity. Humility is opposed to pride, modesty is opposed to vanity. The former is the inward feeling of lowliness, the latter is its outward expression. The one makes a man sensible that he merits but little, the other renders him moderate in his demands and expectations. Both, therefore, are essential attributes of charity. Notwithstanding their distinction, it is difficult to separate them; for they run into each other, like the blending of two shades in painting, or two tones in music. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity not boastful
Charity does not boast of its connections, and talk of the dignity of its family, the lustre of its ancestors, the fortune and rank of its relations, and its intercourse with the great; as little does it magnify itself on account of its external possessions, and set forth in lofty terms its own riches, its credit and interest among men, its power and authority over others. Neither does it vaunt of its personal accomplishments and exalt itself above those whom it seems to excel in point of learning and knowledge, of wit and courage, of dexterity and address, or of beauty and strength. It does not even boast of its own good deeds, and take undue praise to itself from the things it has done and the actions it has performed. In every ease charity forbids us to seek our own gratification in the diminution of that of our neighbour whom we should love as ourselves. It modestly declines to talk concerning itself, and avoids every subject in conversation which tends to elevate its own merit, and to place that of another in an inferior point of view. (A. Donnan.)
Doth not behave itself unseemly.–
Love doth not behave itself, unseemly
I. The conduct it avoids.
1. Ill mannered.
2. Reproachful.
3. Unbecoming age, station, and place.
II. The conduct it observes.
1. It honours all men.
2. Seeks to please all.
3. Specially regarding the civilities of life; treating superiors with respect and inferiors with consideration. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Unseemliness
is acting contrary to a scheme to form which is becoming, or due, or right. It is, in fact, to be deformed; for there is a deformity of mind as well as a deformity of body: and just as deformity may affect various members of the body, so also may it affect various qualities of the mind or soul. Hence we get an enormous range for this word unseemliness. Beauty is the very-type or attribute of Gods creation. All things, as they originally left the Creators hand, were beautiful, being very good. All things were seemly and comely. Sin alone marred their fair proportion, and their seemliness and comeliness. Sin alone introduced deformity and undue proportion. Man was created seemly in the image of God. The impress of Gods love was upon the soul of man. God is love–charity. So love is not, and cannot, and doth not, behave itself unseemly, unlike the image upon which it was formed or fashioned. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
The seemliness of the charity of Christ
What dignity and yet what condescension! what perfect self-possession and yet what abandonment of self! what purity, what modesty, what retiredness! what humility in the King of heaven, without any loss of dignity, making fishermen His companions and intimate friends! He eats with the Pharisee, and yet is a guest of publicans and sinners! He is left alone with the woman taken in adultery and pardons her. He welcomes the Magdalen and forgives her. He converses with the woman of Samaria, to the astonishment of His disciples. He despises none. He hides not His face from shame and spitting. He gives His back to the smiters in the flagellation or scourging. He dies the shameful death of the Cross! and in all that unseemliness Divine charity is most seemly, most dignified, most attractive, most loving, most charitable. Yes, in His person, the person of very charity herself. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
Pleasant behaviour
Accurate fitting of the parts of a machine is not all that is needed. Oil is required. Our life functions bring us together. Something is needed to make all work smoothly. Good manners, courtesy, pleasant behaviour is this oil which is needed. Some say: What have we to do with good manners between master and workmen? Every creaking bearing in the social machine means loss of power. All heating and friction must be avoided. Fair words butter no parsnips, is an old adage. But they do much in a shop where the assistants are attentive and obliging. Customers will he more likely to come. So in all things. The faculty of mastership is largely behaviour. The man on a committee who is courteous is worth two who are not. Courteous manners and fair words, if they do not put money in the pocket, sweeten life and make it more endurable. (Brooke Herford.)
Charity not uncourteous
Of unseemliness there are many varieties, alike the fruit of selfishness, and equally alien to charity, which is the most effectual conservator of good manners. There is–
I. A forward and officious behaviour. But charity is never meddlesome. It is pride and vanity that makes men busybodies in other mens matters.
II. An uncivil and disrespectful behaviour. Who has not met with those who affect what they call honest bluntness, who feel above all conventional forms, and care not how many they disgust by their brusquery? Charity, however, considers the tastes and customs of society, and restrains from all that is offensive to the best culture? Christian love produces the most genuine politeness, and the best Christian is the most perfect gentleman or lady.
III. An invidious emulation and ambition. But charity, content with her own position, caring little for the honours of the world, practically heeds the words of her Divine Master–Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, etc.
IV. A noisy and blustering ostentation. Nothing is farther from charity than display. If gifted, she exhibits no anxiety to impress the world with the superiority of her endowment. If she achieves anything for the improvement of humanity, she is influenced by no desire to be applauded of men. If she has cast her spiritual sounding-line into the deep things of God, she still owns with him who was not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles, I am less than the least of all saints.
V. An arrogant and supercilious deportment. But charity, minding not high things, condescends to men of low estate. The disciple of the lowly Man of Nazareth, without desiring to destroy the just distinctions of social life, conceals his rank so far as duty will permit, and unites his advantages with such affability and gentleness as shall render them attractive to all.
VI. An obstinate and imperious will. Some people are always setting up their own judgment as the standard, and their own decision as the law. On the contrary, he who is under the influence of charity yields gracefully to the opinions and preferences of his brethren, except where such compliance involves some dereliction of truth and duty.
VII. An unseemly self-confidence and self-reliance. Charity looks to a higher wisdom for guidance and a higher power for strength; and feels itself, in the presence of God, as less than nothing and vanity.
VIII. An unseemly haste and impetuosity of spirit, which it is the tendency of charity to moderate, and one of its chief offices to control. How often, from this very infirmity, did St. Peter subject himself to mortifying rebuke and bitter sorrow!
IX. An unseemly inconsistency and incongruity of deportment, a want of harmony between the manners and the profession of the Christian. Charity in the heart is the temper of Christ. Charity in the action is the imitation of Christ. Charity in the character is Christs unmistakable image. Now what ought that man to be who professes to furnish to the world a miniature likeness of the Incarnate Perfection? Verily, he should be harmless and blameless, holy in all manner of conversation. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity doth not behave itself unseemly
It inspires a disposition to please, and leads to that propriety of conduct which is so beautiful in itself and so acceptable to mankind. It is always unwilling to give offence, and leads us studiously to avoid, both in conduct and speech, whatever may seem unbecoming in ourselves and offensive to others. It introduces civility into conversation, and guards against that harshness and indelicacy of expression which are inconsistent with good manners, and hurt the feelings of mankind. It restrains a petulant disposition of mind, and permits not men to take freedoms which are impertinent and disrespectful to those around them. It checks that spirit of arrogance and ambition which breaks in upon the peace of society and the happiness of mankind. Charity does not arrogate to itself more honour and respect than is justly due to its rank, and necessary to the order of society. It avoids giving offence by standing on little points of honour, and insisting on precedency from a conceit of superior station or distinguished ability, nor does it thrust itself into offices above its ability and beyond its sphere, to the subversion of order and the hurt of society. In every situation and under all circumstances of life, charity guards against improper behaviour, and allows not men to act in a manner unbecoming the station they hold, the abilities they possess, or the period of life they are in. (A. Donnan.)
Seeketh not her own.–
Love seeketh not her own
I. Love is unselfish.
1. Seeketh not her own honour, pleasure, advantage.
2. Inordinately, injuriously, mainly.
II. Is, on the contrary, self-sacrificing.
1. In its endeavours to benefit others.
2. Which is the very essence of love, as exemplified by Christ. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Love; seeketh not her own
Paul showeth the temper of mind, on account of which Charity doth not behave herself unseemly. She seeketh not her own, for the beloved she esteems to be all: and to benefit her beloved she doth not so much as count the thing unseemliness. This is friendship, that the lover and the beloved should no longer be two persons divided, but, in a manner, one single person, a thing which nohow takes place except from love. Seek not, therefore, thine own, that thou mayest find thine own: for he that seeks his own, finds not his own. Wherefore also the same St. Paul says, Let no man seek his own, but every man anothers wealth. (S. Chrysostom.)
Love seeketh not her own
Like seeks like. Charity seeks charity, or God, who is Love. It cares little or nothing for aught else. It knows that all the rest will come in time. It remembers how it is written, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. How deadly opposed this true charity is to that cruel, cold, worldly maxim, that Charity begins at home. Ah! yes, it forgets that Charity was once homeless, and had not where to lay His head, in order to procure for us an eternal home in the heavenly Fathers mansions. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
Christ sought not His own
The life of Divine charity, which is the life of Jesus Christ, was a life summed up in one word as a, life of search, a seeking for souls. So ever He sought them, by day and by night, in the crowded streets of the city and in the desert places, on the mountain-side and on the sea-shore, in the house of the Pharisee, as equally as in that of the publican; amongst Gentile kings as amongst Jewish peasants, amongst the rich as amongst the poor, amongst the learned doctors as amongst the ignorant common people, in Bethlehem as at Calvary, in the cradle as on the Cross, at the beginning of His earthly life as at the end of it, at the beginning of His passion as at the end of it, from the nailing on the bitter tree to the last sigh, or the loud cry of His departing spirit. He seeks not His own, He sought no relief for Himself, He prays for His enemies, He prays for His mother, He prays for the beloved disciple, He prays for the thief on the cross; for in seeking them He, by that very fact, interceded for them. And even when He prays for Himself, it is such a prayer as can only be understood by including all. He is forsaken, derelict, left, as it were, the hull of that which had once been a gallant ship, left at the mercy of the waves, and all only that we should not be forsaken. When He thirsts, He thirsts only to be thirsted for. In commending His Spirit to the eternal Father, He commends our spirits and souls to the keeping of that Fathers love. He descends to the lower parts of the earth to proclaim, not His own victory, or He only proclaims it that the good news of the redemption should be proclaimed to the spirits in prison. He rises, as a pledge of our resurrection. He ascends, that we may now in heart and mind ascend, and when the time comes, also our body ascend with Him, be glorified with Him, and with Him continually dwell. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
Unselfish people
Who are the best loved people in the community? I answer unhesitatingly they are the unselfish. They are those who have drunk deepest of the spirit of Christ. They are those who have the most effectually cut that cursed cancer of self out of their hearts, and filled its place with that love that seeketh not its own. This beautiful grace sometimes blooms out in most unexpected places. It was illustrated by the poor lad in the coal-mine when a fatal accident occurred, and a man came down to relieve the sufferers, and the brave boy said to him, Dont mind me; Joe Brown is a little lower down, and hes amost gone, save him first! There are enough Joe Browns who are lower down in poverty, and ignorance, in weakness and in want than we are, and Christianitys first duty is to save them. It was to save sinners that Jesus died on Calvary. He who stoops the lowest to rescue lost souls will have the highest place in heaven. Will it not be these unselfish spirits who will have Johns place up there on the Saviours bosom and will be the disciples whom Jesus loves? (T. L. Cuyler.)
Disinterestedness
Here is a little story which tells better than a dictionary can the meaning of the word disinterestedness. The late Archdeacon Hare was once, when tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge, giving a lecture, when a cry of fire was raised. Away, rushed his pupils, and forming themselves into a line between the building, which was close at hand, and the river, passed buckets from one to another. The tutor, quickly following, found them thus engaged. At the end of the line one youth was standing up to his waist in the river. He was delicate and looked consumptive. What, cried Mr. Hare; you in the water, Sterling; you so liable to take cold! Somebody must be in it, the youth answered; why not I as well as another? The spirit of this answer is that of all great and generous doing. Cowardice and coldness, too, say: Oh, somebody will do it, and the speaker sits still. He is not the one to do what needs doing. But nobility of character, looking at necessary things, says: Somebody must do it; why not I! And the deed is done.
Unselfishness makes happiness
James Freeman Clarke describes in his fragment of autobiography a journey from Massachusetts to Kentucky in the days before the railroad. He noticed, he says, that the tone of a stage coach party often depended upon the temper of a single individual. A cross, ill-natured, complaining fellow would make all the other passengers cross, ill-natured, and complaining. Once, he says, when going through the Cattaraugus woods, where the road was mostly deep mire and there was every temptation to be cross or uncomfortable, one man so enlivened and entertained our party, and was so accommodating and good-natured that we seemed to be having a pleasant picnic, and the other inmates of the coach took the same tone. I, therefore, found it best for my own sake, as soon as we took our places in the coach for a long journey, to manifest an interest in my fellow passengers, and their comforts; offering, for example, to change places with them if they preferred my seat to their own, and paying them such little attentions as are always agreeable. It happened almost always that the other passengers would follow this lead, and take pains to be civil and accommodating.
Charity the opposite of a selfish spirit
I. The nature of that selfishness of which charity is the opposite. Observe–
1. That charity is not contrary to all self-love. If Christianity tended to destroy a mans love to himself and his own happiness, it would tend to destroy the very spirit of humanity. The saints and the angels love their own happiness; otherwise they would not be happy; far what one does not love he cannot enjoy. Nor is it unlawful, for Gods law makes self-love a rule by which our love to others should be regulated (Mat 19:19). And the same appears also from the fact that the Scriptures are full of motives which work on self-love.
2. That the selfishness which charity is contrary to, is only an inordinate self-love. This consists–
(1) In its being too great comparatively; either by love to God and to man being too small, as it is in many Christians, or by its being none at all, as is the case with the unregenerate. In some respects, of course, wicked men do not love themselves enough; for they do not love the way of their own happiness; and in this sense it is said of them that they hate themselves, though, in another sense, they love self too much.
(2) In placing that happiness in things that are confined to himself. And when it is said that charity seeketh not her own, we are to understand it of her own private good–good limited to herself (Php 2:21; 2Ti 3:2).
II. How charity is contrary to such a spirit.
1. It leads those who possess it to seek not only their own things, but the things of others.
(1) It seeks to please and glorify God (Eph 6:6; 1Co 10:31).
(2) It seeks the good of our fellow-creatures (Php 2:4; 1Co 10:24; 1Co 10:33; Rom 14:2) for–
(a) It is a sympathising and merciful spirit (Col 3:12; Jam 3:17; Psa 37:26). It is–
(b) A liberal spirit (Heb 13:16; Gal 6:10).
(c) It disposes a person to be public-spirited. A man of a right spirit is not a man of narrow and private views, but is greatly interested and concerned for the good of the place in which he resides, and the society of which he is a member (Jer 29:7; Luk 7:5; Est 4:16; Rom 9:1-3). Especially will the spirit of Christian love dispose those that stand in a public capacity, such as that of ministers, and magistrates, and all public officers, to seek the public good.
2. It disposes us, in many cases, to forego and part with our own things, for the sake of others (Act 21:13; 1Jn 3:16).
III. Some of the evidence sustaining the doctrine. This appears from–
1. The nature of love in general. It is of a diffusive nature, and espouses the interests of others.
2. The peculiar nature of Christian or Divine love. Though all real love seeks the good of those who are beloved, yet all other love, excepting this, has its foundation, in one sense, in the selfish principle. So it is with the natural affection which parents feel for their children, and with the love which friends have one to another. But as self-love is the offspring of natural principles, so Divine love is the offspring of supernatural principles, for it embraces enemies as well as friends.
3. The nature of this love to God and to man in particular.
(1) From the nature of this love to God. The Scriptures teach that those who truly love God, love Him so as wholly to devote themselves to Him and His service (Mar 12:30).
(2) From the nature of this love to man.
(a) We are required to love our neighbour as ourselves (Lev 19:18; Mat 22:39).
(b) We are to love others as Christ hath loved us (Joh 13:34). In Joh 15:12 Christ calls it His commandment.
(i) Christ has set His love on His enemies (Rom 5:8; Rom 5:10).
(ii) Such was Christs love to us, that He was pleased, in some respects, to look on us as Himself (Mat 25:40).
(iii) Such was the love of Christ to us, that He spent Himself for our sakes.
(iv) Christ thus loved us, without any expectation of ever being requited by us for His love.
Conclusion: Let me dissuade all from a selfish spirit and practice, and exhort all to seek that which shall be contrary to it. In addition to the motives already presented, consider–
1. That you are not your own (1Co 6:19-20; 1Pe 1:19).
2. That by your very profession as a Christian, you are united to Christ and to your fellow-Christians (Rom 12:5; 1Co 12:13).
3. That, in seeking the glory of God and the good of your fellow-creatures, you take the surest way to have God seek your interests and promote your welfare. (Jon. Edwards.)
Christian self-sacrifice
I. Love seeketh not her own.
1. To the injury of others.
2. Regardless of the welfare of others. We are to love our neighbour as ourselves, even blessing those who curse us.
3. Self-sacrifice is involved. A mother shows it, for her childrens sake. Paul for his kinsmen. Christ, for our sakes, became poor.
4. In efforts for the good of others. Love seeketh not her own, as the great end of life and action. This is not the central mainspring–self-worship or the credit which may be gained of men.
II. What does love seek?
1. The glory of God. This is a privilege, a gratification, and not a dreaded task.
2. The welfare of others Charity begins, but does not end, at home.
3. The welfare of Christs cause.
III. What does love gain?
1. Her own true honour. Christ, who emptied Himself, receives now the adoration of earth and heaven. The unselfish shall hear at last, Come, ye blessed.
2. Her own highest blessedness. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
3. Her highest usefulness. Unselfish love is the mightiest of moral forces. Example is powerful, but behind that is the subtle power of character. This is the highest power of the preacher. The same mind which is in Jesus should be in us. (W. W. Woodworth.)
Charity seeketh not her own
Love seeks the happiness of its object, and not mere self-interest. I do not say that all religion is employed about the interest of others. Love for character is a love for that which regards our own interest as well as that of others. Some of the exercises of religion transact with God directly about our own interest, and contemplate God as standing related to our own interest, and consist in those feelings of gratitude, trust, hope, and dependence which have immediate reference to our own interest. I will endeavour to set before you some of the leading attributes of true religion. Its vital principle consists in that love which seeketh not her own. Although it has more to do with personal concerns than with the concerns of any other individual, yet so far as the interest of others comes into view, it does, when perfect, love a neighbour as ones self. It respects all beings that are clearly seen, according to their moral excellence. Of course it delights in the character of God more than in that of all created beings, and it regards his happiness more than theirs. Here, then, you have the picture of a real Christian. His care is more for the honour of God and the interest of His kingdom than for his own happiness. He really loves God better than himself. What a noble and lovely temper is this! How vast the difference between such a man and the sordid wretch who cares not what becomes of God or His kingdom provided he is safe! This will let you into a view of the character of God. Such love fills his heart. His whole heart is fixed on the public good. His own happiness consists in promoting that and in enjoying that. His benevolence therefore hates sin and takes the form of holiness. It was benevolence which founded a moral government, to secure the holy order and happiness of the creation. From this view of the character of God we may discover the different motives which excite the Christian and the hypocrite to love him. The Christian loves him because he is love, and has set his heart on the happiness of the universe. He delights in Gods wisdom and power because it is their nature to contrive and execute glorious purposes for the general happiness. But the selfish man loves God only as a personal friend–because he has done him good, and as he hopes, intends to save him. He loves to meditate on Gods milder attributes, because he regards them as pledges of his salvation. And now he is full of joy and praise and love, and is melted into tears by a sense of Gods mercies to him, and is willing to do many things for his heavenly Friend. But his love is worthless because it is selfish. We may also see from what different motives the Christian and the hypocrite rejoice that God reigns. The Christian rejoices that all things are under the Divine direction, because in this he sees a security that all things will be conducted for the glory of God and the good of His kingdom. The hypocrite rejoices that God reigns, because if his friend has the management of affairs, he trusts it will fare well with him. The view we have taken of the nature of charity will help us to discover the excellent nature of the Divine law. Look again at that amiable man who loves the interest of Gods kingdom better than his own, who pities and relieves the hungry and the naked; whose heart is under this dominion of justice and universal benevolence. Well, this is the model which the law of God has formed. Were the law universally obeyed, it would fill the world with just such characters. It enjoins nothing but love and its fruits. And what does it forbid? Here is a selfish wretch who would burn a house and send a whole family to perdition for the sake of robbing it of a few shillings. Here is another who would demolish the throne of God and bury the universe under its ruins, for the sake of being independent. What a satanical temper is this! Well, this, and nothing but such as this, the Divine law forbids. How clear it is that this law is the friend of the universe! Here again the true character of God comes out to view. This spirit must be in Him or it could not flow forth in His law. We now see how certain it is that a good man will love the Divine law. He has the very temper of the law in his heart, and he sees that the happiness of the universe rests on the principles which the law contains. We may now see from what different motives the Christian and the hypocrite oppose sin. The good man abhors sin as being a transgression of the Divine law, an enemy of God and His kingdom; but the selfish man, having connected together the ideas of sin and misery, resists sin merely as an enemy to himself. We are now prepared to discover how charity will regard the atonement and mediation of Christ. Had it proclaimed that the penalty should never be exeuted, it would have ruined the law, and the Sufferer might better have remained in heaven. But it pronounced exactly the opposite truth. The obedience of Christ likewise honoured the law. Let us now examine the general grounds on which a benevolent man will approve of this way of salvation. He wishes well to the universe, and is prepared to approve of any measure which is conducive to the public happiness. These are some of the ways in which that charity which seeketh not her own will act towards God, His government, His law, and towards sin and the gospel. I pray you to bring your religion to this test. If it does not agree with this, cast it from you as a viper that will sting you to death. (E. D. Griffin, D.D.)
Charity the opposite of an angry spirit
I. What is that spirit to which Christian love is the opposite of a wrathful disposition? It is not all anger that Christianity is opposite to (Eph 4:26). Anger may be undue and unsuitable in respect to–
1. Its nature, i.e., when it contains ill-will, or a desire of revenge. We are required by Christ to pray for the prosperity even of our enemies (Mat 5:44; Rom 12:14). And so revenge is forbidden (Lev 19:18; Rom 12:19; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8).
2. Its occasion, i.e., when it is without any just cause (Mat 5:22). And this may be the case–
(1) When there is no fault in its object. Many are of such a proud and peevish disposition, that they will be angry at anything that is troublesome, whether anybody be to blame for it or not. And it is a common thing for persons to be angry with others for their doing well, and that which is only their duty.
(2) When persons are angry upon small and trivial occasions. Some are of such a fretful spirit, that they are put out of humour by every little thing in the family, society, or business, that are no greater faults than they themselves are guilty of every day.
(3) When our spirits are stirred at the faults of others chiefly as they affect ourselves, and not as they are against God. We should never be angry but at sin.
3. Its end. When we are angry–
(1) Without considerately proposing any end to be gained by it.
(2) For any wrong end.
4. Its measure. When it is immoderate–
(1) In degree. Sometimes mens passions rise so high that they act as if beside themselves.
(2) In its continuance (Ecc 7:9; Eph 4:26). If a person allows himself long to hold anger towards another, he will quickly come to hate him.
II. How charity is contrary to it.
1. It is directly, and in itself, contrary to all undue anger, for its nature is good-will.
2. All its fruits, as mentioned in the context, are contrary to it. It is contrary to–
(1) Pride, which is one chief cause of undue anger.
(2) To selfishness. Love, or charity, is contrary to anger. It is because men seek their own that they are malicious and revengeful.
Conclusion: Consider how undue anger–
1. Destroys the comfort of him that indulges it.
2. Unfits persons for the duties of religion (Mat 5:24).
3. The angry men are spoken of in the Bible as unfit for human society (Pro 22:24-25; Pro 29:22). (Jon. Edwards.)
Is not easily provoked.–
Love is not easily provoked
I. The self-command of love. Under passion it is–
1. Cool, not passionate.
2. Calm, not stolid.
3. Patient, not peevish.
4. Serious, not sarcastic.
5. Forgiving, not resentful.
II. The secret of its power–humility, enlightenment, pity for the offender, steadfast reliance on God. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Charity not easily provoked
After an intimate acquaintance with Archbishop Leighton for many years, and having been with him by night and by day, at home and abroad, in public and private, I must say I never saw him in any temper in which I myself would not wish to be found at death. (Bp. Burnet.)
Charity not easily provoked
St. Remigius, Archbishop of Rheims, foreseeing that a year of famine was approaching, stored up a quantity of grain for the poor of his flock. Some drunkards set fire to his granaries, and the Saint hearing of it, mounted his horse and rode to the spot to save the corn. Finding, however, that the fire had gained too great power, he quietly dismounted, and approaching the fire, stretched out his hands as if to warm himself, observing: To an old man a fireplace is always acceptable.
On the government of the temper
To be not easily provoked, to be slow in taking offence, and moderate in the expression of resentment–in one word, a good temper seems to be generally reckoned rather among the gifts of nature, the privileges of a happy constitution, than among the possible results of careful self-discipline. We speak of our unhappy temper as if it were something that entirely removed the blame from us, and threw it all upon the peculiar sensitiveness of our frame. The excuse is as absurd as it is mischievous. It is to say, I have great need of self-control; therefore I will take no care about controlling myself; I have much to acquire of a truly Christian spirit; therefore I need take no pains in studying it. It is granted that there may be great differences of natural constitution, just as there are great differences of outward situation. A sickly frame may, in itself, be more disposed, than one which has always been healthy, to a fretful and irritable temper. Particular circumstances, also, may expose some to greater vexations than others. But, after all this is granted, the only reasonable conclusion appears to be, that the attempt to govern the temper is more difficult in some cases than in others, not that it is, in any case, impossible. I now proceed to lay down some rules for its government. The first I derive not only from the opinion that a bad temper is nothing else than the strength and waywardness of selfish feelings habitually indulged, but from the connection in which I find the apostles description of that good temper which is one characteristic of charity–Charity seeketh not her own. Now it appears to me that the reverse of this is pre-eminently true of a bad temper. It is continually seeking its own–its own convenience, ease, comfort, pleasure; and therefore it cannot bear that these things should be forgotten or interrupted.
1. The first rule, therefore, which I would mention for the government of the temper is, guard against the indulgence of a selfish feeling even in your best purposes; beware, even when you think you are entirely occupied with the welfare of others, lest there be some lurking self-will which is seeking to be gratified.
2. Another caution which will frequently be found of use, and particularly in our intercourse with those to whom it is of most consequence that our temper should be gentle and forbearing, is this: avoid raising into undue importance in your own minds the little failings which you may perceive in others, or the trifling disappointments which they may occasion you. How much uneasiness and provocation do we seek, both for ourselves and our friends, if we fret ourselves into anger on an occasion which requires, perhaps, only a gentle word; or if we think it necessary to wear a frown, when every purpose of correction might as well, if not better, be effected by a good-tempered smile.
3. Again, if you wish to follow after that charity which is not easily provoked, do not forget, in the opposition or disappointment of which you may feel inclined to complain, to make due allowance for the situation, feelings, or judgments of others; do not forget that these cannot always be expected to be in unison with your own.
4. Another rule for the government of the temper, closely connected with the last, if indeed it can be separated from it, is, always put the best construction on the motives of others, when you do not understand their conduct. Do not let it be your immediate conclusion, that they must have intended to neglect or offend you, that they cannot possibly have a good reason for their behaviour.
5. It will further be a great help to our efforts, as well as our desires, for the government of the temper, if we consider seriously the natural consequences of hasty resentments, angry replies, rebukes impatiently given or impatiently received, muttered discontents, sullen looks, and harsh words. It may safely be asserted that the consequences of these and other varieties in which ill-temper can show itself, are entirely evil. The feelings which accompany them in ourselves, and those which they excite in others, are unprofitable as well as painful. They lessen our own comfort, and tend rather to prevent than to promote the improvement of others. After considering the effects of a bad temper, even when connected with good intentions, we shall be the more disposed to practise another method which may be mentioned, for correcting or guarding against it in ourselves. I have already advised a restraint to be placed upon hasty feelings of anger or dissatisfaction; but we should check the expression of those feelings. If our thoughts are not always in our power, our words and actions and looks may be brought under our command; and, if I mistake not, a command over these will be found no mean help towards obtaining an increase of power over our thoughts and feelings themselves. There are not wanting either reasons or rules for the government of the temper, even when we have serious cause for complaint or censure. Let it be that the language or conduct of another has done us real and great injustice. Is this more than we ought to expect, or to be prepared for bearing, in a world where, among other purposes, we are placed to be exercised by trials of Christian patience? A good temper is the natural and constant homage of a truly religious man to that God whom he believes to be love, and to dwell in those who dwell in love. To confirm us in the resolution of making our religion effectual as a help and a rule in the government of our tempers, we shall do well to consider, frequently, the proofs of its efficacy for such a purpose which we may find in the examples of those who have been remarkable for their meekness and patience. These examples will familiarise us with the fact, that such things have been borne; they will accustom us to consider a patient endurance of them a regular part of our religious duties; they will accustom us to think it the business of a Christian to watch over every weakness to which be knows himself subject. Cherish in your minds a spirit of prayer. The help of religion is best sought in connection with supplication to Him who is the source and end of religion. The calmness and seriousness of reflection are best secured by making the pause allowed for communion with our own wisest thoughts, a pause also for communion with Him who is the giver of wisdom. (A. R. Beard.)
Irritability
1. Provocation is but the calling forth in us, and from us, some emotion, by some external circumstance which in some way or other affects us. It is perhaps the evil from within us, answering to, and going forth to meet the evil from without us. There is probably some dangerous, tender spot in the character or temperament of every one of us which is peculiarly susceptible to provocation. It may vary from time to time. It may shift from one point to another, just as pain sometimes shifts from one member to another. We know also that certain conditions of the atmosphere, or postures of the body, or certain things which affect our senses, affect each of us according to the sensitiveness of any particular sense. So it is with the mind. One thing which one person will bear without the least annoyance will entirely disturb another; or again, certain people will have the peculiar gift of saying, or looking, or having a manner which almost, in spite of ourselves, seems so easily to provoke us, and cause us to be wanting in kindly feeling. There are persons who somehow always contrive to say the right things at the wrong times, or are out of tune with us altogether. When we are in great trouble, they talk trivially; or they console us with just the very things that do not afford us the very least consolation; or when our minds are full of some important business, they detain us with some imaginary trouble of their own, or some story about their neighbour. Our charily, our courtesy, is chafing under it, and at last we are fairly easily provoked, and, indeed, if we knew where to draw the line–justly.
2. Much depends, however, by what is meant by the word provoked here. The word is such an everyday word, that we can be at no loss to attach a meaning to it in its ordinary sense. When we hear such expressions as I was provoked beyond endurance, or even of things which fall out in the order of providence, that favourite expression, It is so provoking, when we come to sound, means really neither more nor less than that our mind has, for the time being, lost its equilibrium, and therefore we are so far forth out of charity with God and our neighbour. Of course the range of such an expression is enormous. It may go from a hasty passing phrase to the deadly sin of anger, malice, and all uncharitableness. At any rate, it is the beginning of sin; and, says the wise man, the beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water; that is to say, no one knows when or where it will stop.
3. No doubt one common form that this sin takes with us is irritability of temper. We call it sometimes constitutional irritability. We may excuse it in others, but we must not excuse it in ourselves. It can be overcome. It must be overcome, though it cost us twenty-two years work, as it is said to have cost a great saint. Charity is not irritable, nor easily irritated, we may translate the text.
4. To show its great danger, and how it may take any one of us at unawares, remember that one hasty word, spoken under provocation, deprived Moses of the possession of the promised land. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
Irritable temper: unrestrained, and restrained by grace
A quick and fiery temper, easily excited and irritable under small provocations, ought to be regarded as a misfortune and a disadvantage. By such a temper, ungoverned and unchecked, a man may be driven to acts of violence, and even to deeds of blood; partially restrained, it will hurry him into acts of indiscretion, and involve him in controversies and disputes; but let such a temper be brought under the dominion of grace, and it is precisely the temper which creates zeal, which rouses the soul to the gracious self-denyings of noble doing for the sake of God and His truth, to a bold resistance of what is wrong, and an enthusiastic pursuit of what is good. (Dean Hook.)
Thinketh no evil.—
Charity thinketh no evil
I. Suspects no evil.
II. Imputes no evil.
III. Entertains no thought of resentment.
IV. Devises no evil. (J. Lyth, D.D.)
Charity thinketh no evil
As self-love makes us think well of ourselves, so charity makes us think well of our brethren. Judge unkindly it cannot; condemn officiously it never will. Upon everything said or done, it puts the best construction possible in the case. No evil report will it believe without evidence; no test of character will it accept but that which God hath ordained; no follower of Christ will it discard because his views and feelings do not quadrate in all respects with its own. To mere surmise and rumour it will not listen for a moment; and from the malicious whispers of the tale-bearer it averts its ear with a holy disgust. When forced to believe evil of another, it accepts the fact with manifest reluctance, takes no pleasure in reporting it, finds many a palliation for the offence, and spreads its broad mantle over the multitude of sins. To talk of the good of its neighbours is its special delight, to set forth their virtues and commend their worthy deeds. In every opportunity of communicating pleasure it rejoices with unfeigned joy, and with instinctive horror shinks from inflicting needless pain. The counsels of avarice and ambition it opposes with all its might; and by every mild and gracious means at its command counteracts the deadly influence of pride, envy, anger, malice, and revenge. Stemming the torrents of vice and error, it seeks to rescue the perishing and edify the faithful–to make the miserable happy, and the happy happier still. In the closet it originates schemes for blessing humanity, and goes forth into society for their execution. At night it devises deeds of mercy upon its bed, and in the morning rises radiant as the dawn to perform the benevolent purposes with which it sank to rest. (J. A. James.)
Love thinketh no evil
No one is perhaps half as bad as he is represented, and many of the faults and failings of our neighbours exist only in our own disordered minds. If you have a flaw in your window glass, the loveliest view seen through it will be ugly and distorted. So if you have a flaw in your mind, if you look uncharitably, unlovingly at others, you will see nothing but evil in them. So much depends upon our way of looking at things. I have heard of a man who, coming home late one night, complained that he had been followed by an ill-looking person. It turned out that this was his own shadow. (H. J. W. Buxton.)
Thinketh no evil
That was a well-deserved rebuke given by a gentleman, whose wife said of a neighbour, He is very kind to the poor, but it may be more for the sake of praise than doing good. To which the husband replied, Look here, Mary, when you see the hands of our clock always right, you may be sure that there is not much wrong with the inside works. The tendency to sit in judgment upon each others motives is a very common fault, especially among young people. It crops up more frequently n the freedom of home intercourse than anywhere else, consequently that is just in the place where its first manifestations should be nipped in the bud. The charity that thinketh no evil is a rare but most desirable possession. (The Brooklet.)
Detraction
1. Each mans thoughts are a world to himself. We all of us have an interior world to govern, and he is the only king who knows how to rule his thoughts. We are very much influenced by external things, but our true character is found within. It is manufactured in the world of our thoughts, and there we must go to influence it. He whose energy covers his thoughts, covers the whole extent of self.
2. In some degree our thoughts are a more true measure of ourselves than even our actions. Our thoughts are not under the control of human respect. No one knows anything about them. There are thousands of things which we are ashamed to say, or to do, which we are not ashamed to think. It is not easy for our thoughts to be ashamed of themselves. They have no witnesses but God. Religious motives can alone have a jurisdiction over them.
3. If a man habitually has kind thoughts of others, not because he happens to be of an easy-going disposition, but on supernatural motives, that is, as a result of grace, he is not far from being a saint.
4. Kind thoughts imply a great deal of thinking about others. This, in itself, is rare. But they imply also a great deal of thinking about others without the thoughts being judgments of their conduct, or criticisms. This is rarer still. Active-minded people are naturally the most prone to find fault, and such must, therefore, make kind thoughts a defence against self. By sweetening the fountain of their thoughts they will destroy the bitterness of their judgments. But kind thoughts imply a great nearness to, and a close contact with God. Kind thinking is an especial attribute of God, because He is not extreme to mark what is done amiss: God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses.
5. Nobody can judge men but God, and we can hardly obtain a higher or more reverent view of God than that which represents Him to us, as judging men with boundless charity.
6. The habit of judging others, that is, of thinking evil, requires a long process to eradicate it. We must concentrate ourselves upon it to keep it in check, and this check is to be found in kind interpretations in suspecting, not evil, but good motives. We must come to esteem very lightly our sharp eye for evil on which we perhaps prided ourselves as cleverness in detecting, or, as we called it, unmasking it. We forget that all this may be, that there is a terrible possibility, or even a probability of its being, a huge uncharitableness. No doubt knowledge of character may be a talent, but it is the hardest talent of all to manage. We are sure to continue to say clever or sharp things as long as we are by way of judging others. Sight is a great blessing, but there are times and places in which it is far more blessed not to see. Of course we are not to grow blind to evil, but we must grow to something higher and something truer than a quickness in detecting or suspecting evil, if we would have anything of that blessed charity, that love which thinketh no evil.
7. Have we not always found that, on the whole, our kind interpretations were truer than our harsh ones? What mistakes have we not made in judging others? But have they not almost always been on the side of harshness? We have roused, and perhaps given vent to our righteous indignation. All at once the whole matter is explained in some most simple way, and we are lost in astonishment that we should never have thought of it ourselves. On the other hand, how many times in life have we been wrong, when we put a kind construction on the conduct of others?
8. The practice of kind thoughts tells most decidedly on our spiritual life. It leads to great self-denial about our talents and influence.
9. Thinking no evil, that is, thinking kind thoughts, endows us with great facility in spiritual things. It opens and widens the paths of prayers. It enables us to find God easily, because God is Love.
10. Above all, it is one of the main helps to the complete government of the tongue. (J. B. Wilkinson, M.A.)
Charity opposed to censoriousness
I. The nature of censoriousness. It consists of a disposition to think evil with respect to–
1. The state of others. It often shows itself in a disposition to think the worst of those about us, whether they are worldly men or Christians.
2. The qualities of others. It appears in a disposition to overlook their good qualities, or to make very little of them; or to make more of their ill qualities than is just; or to charge them with those ill qualities which they have not.
3. The actions or speech of others. This spirit discovers itself–
(1) In judging them to be guilty of evil actions without any evidence that constrains them to such a judgment (1Ti 6:4; Psa 15:1-3; Pro 17:4).
(2) In a disposition to put the worst constructions on their actions. But here it may be inquired, Wherein lies the evil of judging ill of others, since it is not true that all judging ill of others is unlawful? And where are the lines to be drawn? To this I reply, that there are persons appointed on purpose to be judges, in civil societies, and in Churches, and that particular persons, in their private judgments of others, are not obliged to divest themselves of reason, that they may thus judge well of all. And therefore we are not forbidden to judge all persons where there is plain and clear evidence that they are justly chargeable with evil. But the evil of that judging wherein censoriousness consists, lies–
(a) In judging evil of others when evidence does not oblige to it, or in thinking ill of them when the case very well allows of thinking well of them (Pro 18:13).
(b) In a well-pleasedness in judging ill of others.
II. How a censorious spirit is contrary to charity.
1. It is contrary to love to our neighbour.
(1) We see that persons are very backward to judge evil of themselves. And, therefore, if they loved their neighbour as themselves, love would have the same tendency with respect to him.
(2) We see that persons are very backward to judge evil of those they love.
(3) We see, also, universally that where hatred and ill-will towards others most prevail, there a censorious spirit most prevails.
2. A censorious spirit manifests a proud spirit. And this, the context declares, is contrary to the spirit of charity.
Conclusion: This subject–
1. Sternly reproves those who commonly take to themselves the liberty of speaking evil of others. How often does the Scripture condemn backbiting and evil-speaking! (Psa 50:19-20; Tit 3:1-2; 1Pe 2:1; Psa 15:3).
2. Warns all against censoriousness, either by thinking or speaking evil of others, as they would be worthy of the name of Christians.
(1) How often, when the truth comes fully out, do things appear far better concerning others than at first we were ready to judge.
(2) How little occasion is there for us to pass our sentence on others. Our great concern is with ourselves (1Co 4:5).
(3) God has threatened, that if we are found censoriously judging and condemning others, we shall be condemned ourselves (Rom 2:3). (Jon. Edwards.)
Censoriousness
The character of Aunt Henderson in Kitty Trevylyan is a very suggestive and instructive one. Her conversation consisted chiefly in compassionate animadversions upon the infirmities of her neighbours. In this, of course, she was perfectly conscientious, thinking it a matter of much importance that we should observe the follies and errors of others, in order to learn wisdom and prudence from them. Now Aunt Henderson is scarcely an imaginative personage. The world is full of just such people who seem to regard the rest of mankind as a set of defective specimens expressly designed to teach them moral perfection, just as children at school have ungrammatical sentences placed before them to teach them grammar. But I cannot help thinking, with Kitty, that the children may learn more from the correct sentences than from the incorrect, and that it is far more pleasant to have the beautiful right thing before one than the failure; nor can I believe, any more than she, that others are sent into the world to be a sort of example of error and imperfection, even to make Aunt Henderson and other conscientious people of the same kind quite perfect by the contrast. Aunt Henderson and her followers seem to be the very opposite of St. Pauls charity in this chapter; for they enjoy a sort of selfish gratification in the mistakes and misdoings of their neighbours, and dwell upon them with a malicious self-complacency of which they are scarcely conscious; while it is among the most conspicuous qualities of charity, and by no means the least beautiful of the portraiture, that she taketh not account of evil (R.V.). (J. Cross, D.D.)
Censorious judgment
Who is not acquainted with people who are expressing unfavourable opinions of others and, without any apparent concern about the consequences, look upon everybody with suspicion? and a very small circumstance is to them a sufficient indication of insincerity or wickedness. The soundness of your faith they question because you happen to differ with them in some unimportant matter of opinion. Your worship may be as hearty and as spiritual as their own; yet, because you do not conform perfectly to their ritual, you are denounced as a Romaniser or a schismatic. They judge all by their own standard, measure all by their own iron bedstead, and make no account of the modifying influences of education and society. Even the fatherly chastisements of Divine Providence they misinterpret; and, like Jobs miserable comforters, pronounce the metal spurious because it has been submitted to the furnace. If the motive of an act is not perfectly obvious, they are apt to give it a bad construction, though a good one were quite as easy. A general remark is made in company, and some one present thinks it applicable to himself, and forthwith angrily appropriates it, though the speaker had no more thought of him than of Julius Caesar. Absorbed in meditation or conversation, you unconsciously pass an acquaintance in the street without speaking to him, and the casual oversight is set down against you as an intentional incivility. I recollect once to have given lasting offence by failing to recognise on the instant an old friend whom I had not met for many years, though I was never in my life more innocent of unfriendly intention. On another occasion I incurred the displeasure of a lady by my inability to identify her behind a veil, which rendered her face as invisible as the moon in a total eclipse, and the crime I believe was never forgiven. Censorious people commonly see motes in others eyes through beams in their own, and none are more to be suspected than those who are always suspecting their neighbours. Their knowledge of human nature is obtained at home, and their fears of you are only the reflected images of their own, evil hearts. They resemble the surly mastiff, that sidles growling toward the mirror, mistaking his own likeness for a foe. Full of evil surmisings, they cannot afford to suspend their judgment and wait for explanation or evidence; blot, impelled by the bad spirit within them, they rush blindly to the bench and thunder forth their anathema against the supposed delinquent. How eagerly they take up an evil report, and how industriously they circulate it! Hearing a vague rumour, than which nothing is more uncertain in such a world as this, they believe without a particle of evidence, and never take the trouble to inquire into the grounds of the suspicion; but roll the delicious slander as a sweet morsel under their tongues, and feed on the imaginary imperfection of their neighbours with the zest of a vulture upon the slain. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Charity thinketh no evil
This is not to say that love is blind to iniquity or slow, on occasion, to reprove it. The most scathing denunciation that ever was heard, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, how shall ye escape the damnation of hell! fell from the lips of Incarnate Love. But love has nothing in common with a censorious spirit. Love puts the best construction on everything it sees. It thinketh no evil. Let us note some of the reasons why we should, as far as possible, speak well of our fellow-men.
I. It is Christ like. How sympathetic and gracious and helpful He ever was! He had a kind word for the magdalen, a pitying glance for the dying thief.
II. Consider our ignorance. Who are we that we should assume to know what passes in a human breast? How little we understand the conditions, the environment, the sore temptations, of those who fall into sin!
1. Of justice we know little or nothing. Let us leave that to an omniscient God. Our function is with mercy. That falls measurably within our sphere of knowledge, and we are safe to administer it.
III. We work incalculable injury by our uncharitable treatment of others. There are people who would not prick their neighbours with a bodkin, yet do not hesitate, as Swift says, to–
Convey a libel with a frown,
And wink a reputation down.
They would not steal a farthing, but rob their neighbours without scruple of that which is better than life. It is related that when the martyr Taylor was dying at the stake one of the bystanders cast a flaming torch which struck his eyes and blinded them and brake his face that the blood ran down his visage. This was base, cowardly, brutal beyond words. But it was not more base, more brutal, or more cowardly than to injure a man in his reputation, to put him to an open shame by blackening his honour.
IV. We live in glass houses. We are none of us any better than the law requires, none of us any better than we ought to be. We have all sinned and come short of the Divine glory; and, strange to tell, the faults which we are most prone to criticise in others are those which are most deeply seated in ourselves. Tell me the general drift of a mans aspersions and I will show you his darling sin. It would be prudent in us all to take advantage of that provision which in courts of justice excuses a witness from testifying against a culprit when to do so would incriminate himself. It takes a rogue to catch a rogue. All captious criticism is in the nature of States evidence.
V. We are on our way to judgment. And here we are making the rule which will apply to ourselves at that great day. Judge not, said the Master, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment, etc. The Moslems say that two spirits are set to guard the actions of every man. At night they fly up to heaven and report to the recording angel. The one says, He bath wrought this good, O angel! Write it ten times! The other says, He hath wrought this evil; but forbear, O angel, yet seven hours, in order that he may repent! It is true that God delighteth in mercy. But it we want it we must here accord it.
VI. In dealing ungraciously with others we lose the blessed opportunity of kindness. There is no telling what good may he done by a word of sympathy and helpfulness, one of those words in due season which are like apples of gold in pictures of silver. In the prison at New Bedford there is a man serving out a life sentence who some years ago had a strange experience. He had previously been regarded as one of the most desperate and dangerous inmates. He had planned outbreaks and mutinies, and been repeatedly punished in vain. His heart was full of bitterness. But one day in June a party of strangers came to visit the institution, an old man with several ladies and one little girl. It happened that this prisoner had just been assigned for some misdemeanour to the menial task of scrubbing the corridor. The warden, leading the visitors about, saw him, sulky and morose, at the top of the stairway. Jim, he called, come and carry this little girl up. The convict scowled and hesitated. The little girl at the foot of the stairway held out her arms and said, If you will, Ill kiss you. He looked at her seriously a moment, then slowly came down, and lifting her upon his shoulders as tenderly as any father could have done, carried her to the upper corridor. She raised her face. He gravely stooped and kissed it, then returned to his task. And they say at the New Bedford jail that he has never been the same man since that day. The kindness of that child in some way transformed his life. (D. J. Burrell, D.D.)
On candour
Religion and government are the two great foundations of order and comfort among mankind. Government restrains the crimes which would be subversive of society, secures the property, and defends the lives of its subjects. But the defect of government is, that human laws can extend no farther than to the actions of men. Religion supplies the insufficiency of law by striking at the root of those disorders which occasion so much misery in the world. Its professed scope is to regulate, not actions alone, but the temper and inclinations. By this means it ascends to the sources of conduct. We are led to this reflection by the description given in the context of charity, that great principle in the Christian system. He justly supposes, that, if the temper be duly regulated, propriety of action will follow, and good order take place in external behaviour.
I. Let us consider what this description of charity imports. You will easily perceive that the expression in the text is not to be understood in a sense altogether unlimited; as if there were no occasion on which we are to think unfavourably of others. To view all the actions of men with the same degree of complacency would be contrary both to common understanding and to many express precepts of religion. Religion renders it our duty to abhor that which is evil. The virtue inculcated is that which is known by the name of candour. It is necessary to observe that the true candour is altogether different from that guarded, inoffensive language and that studied openness of behaviour which we so frequently meet with among men of the world. Smiling, very often, is the aspect, and smooth are the words, of those who inwardly are the most ready to think evil of others. That candour which is a Christian virtue consists not in fairness of speech, but in fairness of heart. It may want the blandishment of external courtesy, but supplies its place with generous liberality of sentiment. Its manners are unaffected, and its professions cordial. It is perfectly consistent with extensive knowledge of the world, and with due attention to our own safety. In that various intercourse which we are obliged to carry on with persons of every different character, suspicion, to a certain degree, is a necessary guard. It is only when it exceeds the bounds of prudent caution that it degenerates into vice He makes allowance for the mixture of evil with good, which is to be found in every human character. He expects none to be faultless; and he is unwilling to believe that there is any without some commendable quality. In the midst of many defects he can discover a virtue. Under the influence of personal resentment he can be just to the merit of an enemy. He is not hasty to judge, and he requires full evidence before he will condemn. As long as an action can be ascribed to different motives, he holds it as no mark of sagacity to impute it always to the worst. Where there is just ground for doubt, he keeps his judgment undecided. When he must condemn, he condemns with regret. He listens calmly to the apology of the offender. From one wrong opinion he does not infer the subversion of all sound principles; nor from one bad action conclude that all regard to conscience is overthrown. He commiserates human frailty; and judges of others according to the principles by which he would think it reasonable that they should judge of him. In a word, he views men and actions in the clear sunshine of charity and good-nature, and not in that dark and sullen shade which jealousy and party-spirit throw over all characters.
II. To recommend, by various arguments, this important branch of Christian virtue.
1. Let us begin with observing what a necessary requisite it is to the proper discharge of all the social duties. Accordingly, love, gentleness, meekness, and long-suffering are enumerated as distinguishing fruits of the Spirit of Christ. But it is impossible for such virtues to find place in a breast where the propensity to think evil of others is predominant. Charitable and candid thoughts of men are the necessary introduction to all good-will and kindness. They form, if we may speak so, the only climate in which love can grow up and flourish. A suspicious temper checks in the bud every kind affection. It hardens the heart, and estranges man from man. It connects humanity with piety. For he who is not given to think evil of his fellow-creatures, will not be ready to censure the dispensations of his Creator. Whereas the same turn of mind which renders one jealous and unjust towards men, will incline him to be querulous and impious towards God.
2. In the second place, as a suspicious uncharitable spirit is inconsistent with all social virtue and happiness, so, in itself, it is unreasonable and unjust. In order to form sound opinions concerning characters and actions, two things are especially requisite, information and impartiality. But such as are most forward to decide unfavourably are destitute of both. Instead of possessing, or even requiring, full information, the grounds on which they proceed are frequently the most slight and frivolous. Nothing can be more contrary both to equity and to sound reason than such precipitate judgments. The motives of the actor may have been entirely different from those which you ascribe to him; and, where you suppose him impelled by bad design, he may have been prompted by conscience and mistaken principle. Admitting the action to have been in every view criminal, he may have been hurried into it through inadvertency and surprise. He may have sincerely repented; and the virtuous principle may have now regained its full vigour. No error is more palpable than to look for uniformity from human nature, though it is commonly on the supposition of it that our general conclusions concerning character are formed. Mankind are consistent neither in good nor in evil. In the present state of frailty all is mixed and blended. The strongest contrarieties of piety and hypocrisy, of generosity and avarice, of truth and duplicity, often meet in one character. There are few cases in which we have ground to conclude that all goodness is lost. Placed, then, in a situation of so much uncertainty and darkness, where our knowledge of the hearts and characters of men is so limited, and our judgments concerning them are so apt to err, what a continual call do we receive for candour!
3. In the third place, what the sources are of those severe and uncharitable opinions which we are so ready to form. Were the mind altogether free from prepossession and bias, it might avail itself to more advantage of the scanty knowledge which it possesses. It is one of the misfortunes of our present situation that some of the good dispositions of human nature are apt to betray us into frailties and vices. Thus it often happens that the laudable attachment which we contract to the country or the church to which we belong, or to some political denomination under which we class ourselves, both confines our affections within too narrow a sphere, and gives rise to violent prejudices against such as come under an opposite description. Not contented with being in the right ourselves, we must find all others in the wrong. They rashly extend to every individual the severe opinion which they have unwarrantably conceived of a whole body. Was there ever any great community so corrupt as not to include within it individuals of real worth? Besides prepossessions of this nature, which sometimes mislead the honest mind, there are other, and much more culpable, causes of uncharitable judgment. Pride is hurt and wounded by every excellence in which it can claim no share; and, from eagerness to discover a blemish, rests upon the slightest appearance of one, as a satisfying proof. When rivalry and competition concur with pride, our desire to espy defects increases, and, by consequence, the grounds of censure multiply. Where no opposition of interests takes place, envy has too much influence in warping the judgment of many. A person of low and base mind naturally imputes to others the sentiments which he finds congenial to himself.
4. In the fourth place, that suitable to the sources whence a jealous and suspicious temper proceeds, are the effects which it produces in the world, the crimes and mischiefs with which it fills society. It possesses this unhappy distinction beyond the other failings of the human heart, that while it impels men to violent deeds, it justifies to their own apprehension the excesses which they commit. Amidst the uproar of other bad passions, conscience acts as a restraining power. As soon as the tumult subsides, remorse exerts its influence, and renders the sinner sensible of the evil which he has done. But the uncharitable man is unfortunately set loose from any such check or control. Through the infatuation of prejudice, his judgment is perverted; conscience is misled. The first-fruits of an evilthinking spirit are calumny and detraction, by which society is so often embroiled, and men are set at variance with one another. But, did it proceed no farther than censorious speech, the mischief would be less. Much greater and more serious evils frequently ensue. What direful effects, for instance, have often flowed from rash and ill-founded jealousy in private life! In public life, how often have kingdoms been shaken with all the violence of war and rebellion, from the unjust suspicions which subjects had conceived of their rulers; or the rash jealousy which princes had entertained of their people! But it is in religious dissensions chiefly that the mischievous power of uncharitable prejudice has displayed its full atrocity. Let us attend particularly to one awful instance of the guilt which men may contract, and of the ruin which they may bring upon themselves, through the want of fairness and candour. The nation of the Jews were almost noted for a narrow and uncharitable spirit. When John the Baptist and our blessed Lord appeared among them, because the former was austere in his temper, and retired in his life, they pronounced of him that he had an evil spirit; and because the latter was open and sociable in His manners, they held Him to be destitute of that sanctity which became a prophet. Their prejudice against our Lord took its first rise from a most frivolous and contemptible cause. Is not this the son of the carpenter? Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
5. In the fifth place, as a suspicious spirit is the source of so many crimes and calamities in the world, so it is the spring of certain misery to the person who indulges it. His friends will be few; and small will be his comfort in those whom he possesses. Believing others to be his enemies, he will of course make them such. So numerous and great are the evils arising from a suspicious disposition, that of the two extremes it is more eligible to expose ourselves to occasional disadvantage from thinking too well of others, than to suffer continual misery by thinking always ill of them. It is better to be sometimes imposed upon than never to trust. Safety is purchased at too dear a rate when, in order to secure it, we are obliged to be always clad in armour, and to live in perpetual hostility with our fellows. This is, for the sake of living, to deprive ourselves of the comfort of life. The man of candour enjoys his situation, whatever it is, with cheerfulness and peace.
6. In the sixth place, that there is nothing which exposes men in a more marked and direct manner to the displeasure of the Almighty than a malignant and censorious spirit. I insist not now on the general denunciations of Divine wrath against malice and hatred. Let us only consider under what particular description the Spirit of God brings this crime of uncharitable judgment. It is declared to be an impious invasion of the prerogative of God, to whom alone it belongs to search all hearts, and to determine concerning all characters. On the whole, it clearly appears that no part of the government of temper deserves attention more than to keep our minds pure from uncharitable prejudices, and open to candour and humanity in judging of others. The worst consequences, both to ourselves and to society, follow from the opposite spirit. Let us beware of encouraging a habit of suspicions, by forming too severe and harsh opinions concerning human nature in general. Darkened as the Divine image now is among mankind, it is not wholly effaced. Much piety and goodness may lie hidden in hearts that are unknown to us. Vice is glaring and loud. The crimes of the wicked make a noise in the world, and alarm society. True worth is retired and modest, and requires particular situations to bring it forth to public notice. The aged and the unfortunate, who have toiled through an unsuccessful life with long experience of the falsehood and fraud of evil men, are apt to he the most severe in the opinions which they entertain of others. For such, their circumstances may be allowed to form some degree of apology. (H. Blair, D.D.)
Censorious judgments–their evil effects
As the magicians of Egypt, it is said, imitated Moses and Aaron in turning their rods into serpents, but were not able to turn the serpents again into rods, so a censorious spirit can make an evil thing out of a good, but cannot recover the good again out of the evil. It can make an honest man look like a villain, a sober man like a drunkard, a modest man like a libertine, a devout man like a hypocrite; but what power has it to revive the fair fame it has blasted, and undo the terrible mischief it has done? The poison once poured upon the mind can never be recalled. Your evil surmise is readily received by others as censorious as yourself; your whispered suspicion is taken up by a hundred willing tongues, and confirmed and magnified by a thousand more, till it becomes a common report which no one dares to doubt; but when, convinced of your error and sorry for your imprudence, you wish to retract or modify your statement, you speak to averted ears and minds already prejudiced. The remedy comes too late; the poison has done its work. You have made the serpent; you cannot remake the rod. (H. Blair, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4.
(1.) Charity suffereth long] , Has a long mind; to the end of which neither trials, adversities, persecutions, nor provocations, can reach. The love of God, and of our neighbour for God’s sake, is patient towards all men: it suffers all the weakness, ignorance, errors, and infirmities of the children of God; and all the malice and wickedness of the children of this world; and all this, not merely for a time, but long, without end; for it is still a mind or disposition, to the end of which trials, difficulties, c., can never reach. It also waits God’s time of accomplishing his gracious or providential purposes, without murmuring or repining and bears its own infirmities, as well as those of others, with humble submission to the will of God.
(2.) Is kind] . It is tender and compassionate in itself, and kind and obliging to others; it is mild, gentle, and benign; and, if called to suffer, inspires the sufferer with the most amiable sweetness, and the most tender affection. It is also submissive to all the dispensations of God; and creates trouble to no one.
(3.) Charity envieth not] . Is not grieved because another possesses a greater portion of earthly, intellectual, or spiritual blessings. Those who have this pure love rejoice as much at the happiness, the honour, and comfort of others, as they can do in their own. They are ever willing that others should be preferred before them.
(4.) Charity vaunteth not itself] . This word is variously translated; acteth not rashly, insolently; is not inconstant, c. It is not agreed by learned men whether it be Greek, Latin, or Arabic. Bishop Pearce derived it from the latter language and translates it, is not inconstant. There is a phrase in our own language that expresses what I think to be the meaning of the original, does not set itself forward-does not desire to be noticed or applauded; but wishes that God may be all in all.
(5.) Is not puffed up] . Is not inflated with a sense of its own importance; for it knows it has nothing but what it has received; and that it deserves nothing that it has got. Every man, whose heart is full of the love of God, is full of humility; for there is no man so humble as he whose heart is cleansed from all sin. It has been said that indwelling sin humbles us; never was there a greater falsity: PRIDE is the very essence of sin; he who has sin has pride, and pride too in proportion to his sin: this is a mere popish doctrine; and, strange to tell, the doctrine in which their doctrine of merit is founded! They say God leaves concupiscence in the heart of every Christian, that, in striving with and overcoming it from time to time, he may have an accumulation of meritorious acts: Certain Protestants say, it is a true sign of a very gracious state when a man feels and deplores his inbred corruptions. How near do these come to the Papists, whose doctrine they profess to detest and abhor! The truth is, it is no sign of grace whatever; it only argues, as they use it, that the man has got light to show him his corruptions; but he has not yet got grace to destroy them. He is convinced that he should have the mind of Christ, but he feels that he has the mind of Satan; he deplores it, and, if his bad doctrine do not prevent him, he will not rest till he feels the blood of Christ cleansing him from all sin.
True humility arises from a sense of the fulness of God in the soul; abasement from a sense of corruption is a widely different thing; but this has been put in the place of humility, and even called grace; many, very many, verify the saying of the poet: –
“Proud I am my wants to see;
Proud of my humility.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Lest the Corinthians should say to the apostle: What is this love you discourse of? Or how shall we know if we have it? The apostle here gives thirteen notes of a charitable person.
Charity suffereth long: by love or charity he either meaneth a charitable person, a soul possessed of that love, which he had been commending; or if we take the term plainly, to signify the habit itself, the meaning is, it is a habit or power in the soul, enabling and inclining it to do these things: to suffer long, not to be too quick and tetchy with brethren that may offend or displease us; the charitable man will withhold and restrain his wrath, not be rash in the expressions of it, and hasty to revenge.
And is kind; it disposeth a man to desire to deserve well of all, and to do good to all, as he hath occasion and opportunity; so as it is impossible there should be in a man any thing more opposite to this grace, than a currish, churlish temper, with a study and desire to do others mischief.
Charity envieth not; though a charitable person seeth others in a higher and more prosperous condition than himself, yet it doth not trouble him, but he is glad at the preferment, good, and prosperity of other men, however it fareth with himself. Every envious man, that is displeased and angry at anothers faring well, is an uncharitable man, there is no true root of love to God or to his neighbour in his heart.
Vaunteth not itself; he doth not prefer himself before others, ambitiously glorytug or boasting, and acting rashly to promote his own glory, and satisfy his own intemperate desires or lusts. He
is not puffed up, proudly lifting up himself above others, and swelling with high conceits of himself.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. suffereth longunderprovocations of evil from others. The negative side of love.
is kindthe positiveside. Extending good to others. Compare with love’s featureshere those of the “wisdom from above” (Jas3:17).
enviethThe Greekincludes also jealousy.
vaunteth notin words,even of gifts which it really possesses; an indirect rebuke of thoseat Corinth who used the gift of tongues for mere display.
not puffed upwithparty zeal, as some at Corinth were (1Co4:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Charity suffereth long,…. The apostle, in this and some following verses, enumerates the several properties and characters of the grace of love; and all along represents it as if it was a person, and no doubt designs one who is possessed of it, and in whose heart it is implanted and reigns; such an one is said to “suffer long”, or be “patient”, as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read; not only under afflictions by the hand of God, which such an one considers as arising from love; but under the reproaches and persecutions of men, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, and in imitation of him; such a person is slow to anger when abused, not quick of resentment, nor hasty to revenge when affronted; but exercises forbearance, suffers long, and bears much, and is ready to forgive:
and is kind; liberal, and bountiful, does good to all men, even to enemies, and especially to the household of faith; he is gentle to all men, affable and courteous to his brethren, and not morose, churlish, and ill natured; he is easy and yielding to the tempers and humours of men; accommodates himself to their infirmities, capacities, manners, and circumstances, in everything he can, that is not contrary to the glory of God, the interest of Christ, the honour of religion, his own con science, and the good of men;
charity envieth not; or he that has the grace of love to God, Christ, and the saints, does not envy the temporal happiness of others, though it is what he has not, or is greater than he enjoys; as Rachel envied her sister, because she had children when she herself had none; as Joseph’s brethren envied him because he had a greater share in his father’s affections than they had; or as good men may be tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked, when they themselves are in adversity; but this grace, when in exercise, will not suffer a person to do: nor will such an one envy the superior measures of grace, the more excellent spiritual gifts, or the greater degree of usefulness, and of success in any spiritual undertaking, and so of greater honour and respect, in any of the saints and servants of Christ to themselves, of which Moses and John the Baptist are remarkable instances, Nu 11:28,
charity vaunteth not itself, is not ostentatious, a proud boaster; either of what he has, the things of nature, as wisdom, riches, honour, strength, c. or spiritual gifts or of what he does, since what such an one does, he does from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God, and not to be seen of men, or to gain their esteem and applause: or is not rash, and precipitant; does not run headlong into measures, to promote his own honour and interest, without considering what will be the consequence of things; nor is he rash with his mouth, or hasty with his lips, to utter anything unbecoming before God or men. The Arabic version renders it, “does not speak deceitfully”; or hypocritically, for nothing is more contrary to true genuine love than this; the Syriac version renders it, “is not tumultuous”; noisy and seditious: such an one is not troublesome in a commonwealth, nor does he go into parties and factions in churches, but is all the reverse:
is not puffed up swelled with pride, and elated with a vain conceit of himself, of his parts and abilities, of his learning, eloquence, wisdom, and knowledge, as the false teachers in this church were; knowledge without grace, unsanctified knowledge, mere notional speculative knowledge, puffeth up; but charity, or the grace of love, does not; that edifies and preserves persons from being puffed up with themselves, or one against another.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Charity Described. | A. D. 57. |
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
The apostle gives us in these verses some of the properties and effects of charity, both to describe and commend it, that we may know whether we have this grace and that if we have not we may fall in love with what is so exceedingly amiable, and not rest till we have obtained it. It is an excellent grace, and has a world of good properties belonging to it. As,
I. It is long suffering—makrothymei. It can endure evil, injury, and provocation, without being filled with resentment, indignation, or revenge. It makes the mind firm, gives it power over the angry passions, and furnishes it with a persevering patience, that shall rather wait and wish for the reformation of a brother than fly out in resentment of his conduct. It will put up with many slights and neglects from the person it loves, and wait long to see the kindly effects of such patience on him.
II. It is kind—chresteuetai. It is benign, bountiful; it is courteous and obliging. The law of kindness is in her lips; her heart is large, and her hand open. She is ready to show favours and to do good. She seeks to be useful; and not only seizes on opportunities of doing good, but searches for them. This is her general character. She is patient under injuries, and apt and inclined to do all the good offices in her power. And under these two generals all the particulars of the character may be reduced.
III. Charity suppresses envy: It envieth not; it is not grieved at the good of others; neither at their gifts nor at their good qualities, their honours not their estates. If we love our neighbour we shall be so far from envying his welfare, or being displeased with it, that we shall share in it and rejoice at it. His bliss and sanctification will be an addition to ours, instead of impairing or lessening it. This is the proper effect of kindness and benevolence: envy is the effect of ill-will. The prosperity of those to whom we wish well can never grieve us; and the mind which is bent on doing good to all can never with ill to any.
IV. Charity subdues pride and vain-glory; It vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, is not bloated with self-conceit, does not swell upon its acquisitions, nor arrogate to itself that honour, or power, or respect, which does not belong to it. It is not insolent, apt to despise others, or trample on them, or treat them with contempt and scorn. Those who are animated with a principle of true brotherly love will in honour prefer one another, Rom. xii. 10. They will do nothing out of a spirit of contention or vain-glory, but in lowliness of mind will esteem others better than themselves, Phil. ii. 3. True love will give us an esteem of our brethren, and raise our value for them; and this will limit our esteem of ourselves, and prevent the tumours of self-conceit and arrogance. These ill qualities can never grow out of tender affection for the brethren, nor a diffusive benevolence. The word rendered in our translation vaunteth itself bears other significations; nor is the proper meaning, as I can find, settled; but in every sense and meaning true charity stands in opposition to it. The Syriac renders it, non tumultuatur–does not raise tumults and disturbances. Charity calms the angry passions, instead of raising them. Others render it, Non perperm et pervers agit–It does not act insidiously with any, seek to ensnare them, nor tease them with needless importunities and addresses. It is not froward, nor stubborn and untractable, nor apt to be cross and contradictory. Some understand it of dissembling and flattery, when a fair face is put on, and fine words are said, without any regard to truth, or intention of good. Charity abhors such falsehood and flattery. Nothing is commonly more pernicious, nor more apt to cross the purposes of true love and good will.
V. Charity is careful not to pass the bounds of decency; ouk aschemonei—it behaveth not unseemly; it does nothing indecorous, nothing that in the common account of men is base or vile. It does nothing out of place or time; but behaves towards all men as becomes their rank and ours, with reverence and respect to superiors, with kindness and condescension to inferiors, with courtesy and good-will towards all men. It is not for breaking order, confounding ranks bringing all men on a level; but for keeping up the distinction God has made between men, and acting decently in its own station, and minding its own business, without taking upon it to mend, or censure, or despise, the conduct of others. Charity will do nothing that misbecomes it.
VI. Charity is an utter enemy to selfishness: Seeketh not its own, does not inordinately desire nor seek its own praise, or honour, or profit, or pleasure. Indeed self-love, in some degree, is natural to all men, enters into their very constitution. And a reasonable love of self is by our Saviour made the measure of our love to others, that charity which is here described, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The apostle does not mean that charity destroys all regard to self; he does not mean that the charitable man should never challenge what is his own, but utterly neglect himself and all his interests. Charity must then root up that principle which is wrought into our nature. But charity never seeks its own to the hurt of others, or with the neglect of others. It often neglects its own for the sake of others; prefers their welfare, and satisfaction, and advantage, to its own; and it ever prefers the weal of the public, of the community, whether civil or ecclesiastical, to its private advantage. It would not advance, nor aggrandize, nor enrich, nor gratify itself, at the cost and damage of the public.
VII. It tempers and restrains the passions. Ou paroxynetai—is not exasperated. It corrects a sharpness of temper, sweetens and softens the mind, so that it does not suddenly conceive, nor long continue, a vehement passion. Where the fire of love is kept in, the flames of wrath will not easily kindle, nor long keep burning. Charity will never be angry without a cause, and will endeavour to confine the passions within proper limits, that they may not exceed the measure that is just, either in degree or duration. Anger cannot rest in the bosom where love reigns. It is hard to be angry with those we love, but very easy to drop our resentments and be reconciled.
VIII. Charity thinks no evil. It cherishes no malice, nor gives way to revenge: so some understand it. It is not soon, nor long, angry; it is never mischievous, nor inclined to revenge; it does not suspect evil of others, ou logizetai to kakon—it does not reason out evil, charge guilt upon them by inference and innuendo, when nothing of this sort appears open. True love is not apt to be jealous and suspicious; it will hide faults that appear, and draw a veil over them, instead of hunting and raking out those that lie covered and concealed: it will never indulge suspicion without proofs, but will rather incline to darken and disbelieve evidence against the person it affects. It will hardly give into an ill opinion of another, and it will do it with regret and reluctance when the evidence cannot be resisted; hence it will never be forward to suspect ill, and reason itself into a bad opinion upon mere appearances, nor give way to suspicion without any. It will not make the worst construction of things, but put the best face that it can on circumstances that have no good appearance.
IX. The matter of its joy and pleasure is here suggested: 1. Negatively: It rejoiceth not in iniquity. It takes no pleasure in doing injury or hurt to any. It thinks not evil of any, without very clear proof. It wishes ill to none, much less will it hurt or wrong any, and least of all make this matter of its delight, rejoice in doing harm and mischief. Nor will it rejoice at the faults and failings of others, and triumph over them, either out of pride or ill-will, because it will set off its own excellences or gratify its spite. The sins of others are rather the grief of a charitable spirit than its sport or delight; they will touch it to the quick, and stir all its compassion, but give it no entertainment. It is the very height of malice to take pleasure in the misery of a fellow-creature. And is not falling into sin the greatest calamity that can befal one? How inconsistent is it with Christian charity, to rejoice at such fall! 2. Affirmatively: It rejoiceth in the truth, is glad of the success of the gospel, commonly called the truth, by way of emphasis, in the New Testament; and rejoices to see men moulded into an evangelical temper by it, and made good. It takes no pleasure in their sins, but is highly delighted to see them do well, to approve themselves men of probity and integrity. It gives it much satisfaction to see truth and justice prevail among men, innocency cleared, and mutual faith and trust established, and to see piety and true religion flourish.
X. It beareth all things, it endureth all things, panta stegei, panta hypomenei. Some read the first, covers all things. So the original also signifies. Charity will cover a multitude of sins, 1 Pet. iv. 8. It will draw a veil over them, as far as it can consistently with duty. It is not for blazing nor publishing the faults of a brother, till duty manifestly demands it. Necessity only can extort this from the charitable mind. Though such a man be free to tell his brother his faults in private, he is very unwilling to expose him by making them public. Thus we do by our own faults, and thus charity would teach us to do by the faults of others; not publish them to their shame and reproach, but cover them from public notice as long as we can, and be faithful to God and to others. Or, it beareth all things,–will pass by and put up with injuries, without indulging anger or cherishing revenge, will be patient upon provocation, and long patient, panta hypomenei–holds firm, though it be much shocked, and borne hard upon; sustains all manner of injury and ill usage, and bears up under it, such as curses, contumacies, slanders, prison, exile, bonds, torments, and death itself, for the sake of the injurious, and of others; and perseveres in this firmness. Note, What a fortitude and firmness fervent love will give the mind! What cannot a lover endure for the beloved and for his sake! How many slights and injuries will he put up with! How many hazards will he run and how many difficulties encounter!
XI. Charity believes and hopes well of others: Believeth all things; hopeth all things. Indeed charity does by no means destroy prudence, and, out of mere simplicity and silliness, believe every word, Prov. xiv. 15. Wisdom may dwell with love, and charity be cautious. But it is apt to believe well of all, to entertain a good opinion of them when there is no appearance to the contrary; nay, to believe well when there may be some dark appearances, if the evidence of ill be not clear. All charity is full of candour, apt to make the best of every thing, and put on it the best face and appearance? it will judge well, and believe well, as far as it can with any reason, and will rather stretch its faith beyond appearances for the support of a kind opinion; but it will go into a bad one with the upmost reluctance, and fence against it as much as it fairly and honestly can. And when, in spite of inclination, it cannot believe well of others, it will yet hope well, and continue to hope as long as there is any ground for it. It will not presently conclude a case desperate, but wishes the amendment of the worst of men, and is very apt to hope for what it wishes. How well-natured and amiable a thing is Christian charity? How lovely a mind is that which is tinctured throughout with such benevolence, and has it diffused over its whole frame! Happy the man who has this heavenly fire glowing in his heart, flowing out of his mouth, and diffusing its warmth over all with whom he has to do! How lovely a thing would Christianity appear to the world, if those who profess it were more actuated and animated by this divine principle, and paid a due regard to a command on which its blessed author laid a chief stress! A new commandment give I to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another, John xiii. 34. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, v. 35. Blessed Jesus! how few of thy professed disciples are to be distinguished and marked out by this characteristic!
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 4-7 picture the character or conduct of love in marvellous rhapsody.
Suffereth long (). Late Koine word (Plutarch) from , long, , passion, ardour. Cf. Jas 5:7f.
Is kind (). From (useful, gracious, kind) and that from , to use. Not found elsewhere save in Clement of Rome and Eusebius. “Perhaps of Paul’s coining” (Findlay). Perhaps a vernacular word ready for Paul. Gentle in behaviour.
Envieth not ( ). Present active indicative of (contraction =, same as subjunctive and optative forms). Bad sense of from , to boil, good sense in 12:31. Love is neither jealous nor envious (both ideas).
Vaunteth not itself ( ). From , vainglorious, braggart (Polybius, Epictetus) like Latin perperus. Only here in N.T. and earliest known example. It means play the braggart. Marcus Anton. V. 5 uses it with , to play the toady.
Is not puffed up ( ). Present direct middle indicative of from (late form for , from , bellows), to puff oneself out like a pair of bellows. This form in Herodas and Menander. Is not arrogant. See on 4:6.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Suffereth long [] . See on Jas 5:7.
Is kind [] . Only here in the New Testament. See on crhstov, A. V., easy, Mt 11:30, and crhstothv good, Rom 3:12. “The high charity which makes us servants Prompt to the counsel which controls the world.” DANTE, “Paradiso,” 21, 70, 71.
Vaunteth [] . From perperov a braggart. Used of one who sounds his own praises. Cicero introduces a compound of the word in one of his letters to Atticus, describing his speech in the presence of Pompey, who had just addressed the senate on his return from the Mithridatic war. He says : “Heavens! How I showed off [] before my new auditor Pompey,” and describes the various rhetorical tricks which he employed.
Puffed up [] . See on ch. 1Co 4:6, and compare ch. 8 1. Of inward disposition, as the previous word denotes outward display. The opposite is put by Dante :
“That swells with love the spirit well – disposed.” ” Paradiso, ” 10, 144.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Charity suffereth long, and is kind.” (agape makrothumei, chresteuetai) “Charity suffers long (and) is kind.” The Hebrew rhythm of repetition, of parallelism in structure, is used reflecting deep emotionalism of reality in the remainder of this chapter. Love’s charity causes the mother to sit long hours by the sick bed of her child, the father tirelessly to labor for food and shelter for his family, and the minister to empathize with the cares of his flock, 1Th 2:7-11.
2) “Charity envieth not – (he agape ou zeloi) “Charity is not jealous.” True charity endures wrong, is not envious or suspicious, is patient toward evil.
3) “Charity vaunteth not itself,” (he agape ou perpereuetai) “The love (of God) does not attempt an outward show,” or worldly display of cheap emotional showmanship, nor does it puff up itself like a puff-adder. True love bears the two marks of patience and goodness.
4) “Is not puffed up.” (ou phusioutai) “Is not puffed up,” like the puff-adder or blowfish; reflecting selfishness for having its own way; This charismatic gift of Love excels all others in reflecting Christian forbearance toward evil and diligence in doing good, Rom 13:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4. Love is patient. He now commends love from its effects or fruits, though at the same time these eulogiums are not intended merely for its commendation, but to make the Corinthians understand what are its offices, and what is its nature. The object, however, mainly in view, is to show how necessary it is for preserving the unity of the Church. I have also no doubt that he designed indirectly to reprove the Corinthians, by setting before them a contrast, in which they might recognize, by way of contraries, their own vices.
The first commendation of love is this — that, by patient endurance of many things, it promotes peace and harmony in the Church. Near akin to this is the second excellence — gentleness and lenity, for such is the meaning of the verb χρηστεύεσθαι (781) A third excellence is — that it counteracts emulation, the seed of all contentions. Under emulation he comprehends envy, which is a vice near akin to it, or rather, he means that emulation, which is connected with envy, and frequently springs from it. Hence where envy reigns — where every one is desirous to be the first, or appear so, love there has no place.
What I have rendered — does not act insolently — is in the Greek χρηστεύεσθαι Erasmus has rendered it, is not froward. (782) It is certain that the word has different significations; but, as it is sometimes taken to mean — being fierce, or insolent, through presumption, this meaning seemed to be more suitable to the passage before us. (783) Paul, therefore, ascribes to love moderation, and declares that it is a bridle to restrain men, that they may not break forth into ferocity, but may live together in a peaceable and orderly manner. He adds, farther, that it has nothing of the nature of pride. (784) That man, then, who is governed by love, is not puffed up with pride, so as to despise others and feel satisfied with himself. (785)
(781) The distinction between the. first and second of the commendations here bestowed upon love is stated by Bloomfield as follows: Μακροθυμεῖ, “denotes lenity, as opposed to passion and revenge: and χρηστεύεται, gentleness, as opposed to severity and misanthropy.” — Ed
(782) This rendering is followed in two of the old English translations, viz. Tyndale (1534) and Cranmer (1539.) “Love doth not frowardly.” — Ed.
(783) Interpreters are by no means agreed as to the precise import of the original term περπερεύεται. Most ancient and many modern commentators explain it as meaning — “to act precipitately and rashly” — and in accordance with this, is the rendering given by our Translators in the Margin — is not rash No single expression, however, appears to bring out more satisfactorily the import of the original word than that which our Translators have inserted in the text — vaunteth not itself. Beausobre makes use of two epithets. “ N’est point vaine et insolerite ;” — “Is not vain and insolent. ” — Ed
(784) “ I1 dit consequemment que charite ne s’enfle point ;” — “He says consequently, that love is not puffed up. ”
(785) Bloomfield considers the distinction between this clause and the preceding one to be this, that the former “refers to pride as shown in words, and the latter to “the carriage and bearing, to denote pride and haughtiness on account of certain external advantages. A similar view is taken by Barnes, who considers the former clause as referring to “the expression of the feelings of pride, vanity,” etc.; and the latter, to “the feeling itself.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE INCOMPARABLE GRACE
1Co 13:4-13
IN our last study of this chapter, while employing the King James version, as is our custom, we defined the word charity to mean love, showing that love is the basis of all benevolence; and finally, that martyrdom is only meritorious when prompted by love.
It would seem that Paul had exhausted the catalogue of compliments for this grace when he has finished with the third verse; but, on the contrary, he has only commenced. We will not forget that when Henry Morehouse came to this country, a green young Irishman, he preached in the great hall for Mr. Moody for seven consecutive nights, and never shifted from the great theme of Gods love, nor from the great text of Joh 3:16.
Without doubt every sentence in this thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians is worthy of a sermon. If one attempt to cover even a few of its verses in a single discourse, it leaves him convinced of an insufficient treatment. And yet, the general comprehension of a chapter or book is an essential first step toward its more complete mastery.
With this in mind we turn our attention to the ten remaining verses of this marvelous tribute to Love. In our last address the respective themes were introduced by the word if. To-day, Love is the key word. It appears five times in the ten verses. In four instances its employment presents a new side of the incomparable grace; and in the fifth instance draws a conclusion and reaches a climax.
IT IS UNWAVERINGLY KIND
Charity suffereth long, and is kind. The old stoics used to teach men that to suffer, in stolid silence, was virtue. You could be as glum as you pleased if you said nothing. They did not even ask you to grin and bear it, but to be silent and bear it, whether you grinned or secretly groaned. The Christian Scientist has gone the stoic one better, and said, If you suffer, say it is not so, and no matter how deeply it hurts, hold tenaciously to the statement that suffering is an illusion of mortal mind, and keep smiling, encouraged by the thought that your silent, smiling agony may secure a new convert to the philosophy of Science and Health.
But Christianity provides a grace whereby one may endure continued suffering and yet remain kind, and that grace is love.
These are days in which we hear much said about the milk of human kindness. It is a trait of character that has much or more to do with personal, domestic and social happiness than any that might be named. Henry Drummond is not extravagant when he declares, No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of gold, not drunkenness itself, does more to unchristianize society than evil temper. For embittering life, for breaking up communities, for destroying the most sacred relationships, for devastating homes, for withering up men and women, for taking the bloom of childhood; in short, for sheer gratuitous misery-producing power, this influence stands alone.
Have you never noticed that one-half the divorces that are granted in court today are not given on Biblical grounds at all? They are not even granted as a release from cruelty; but incompatibility of temper is the commonest plea in our courts, which only means another name for no love, and I will prove it by a solitary illustration. If there is any woman in the world for whom my heart bleeds it is the sweet, wholesome, Christian woman whose life is bound up with that of a bloated drunkard. I never condemn her when she requests a separation; and yet, I know perfectly well that love can even endure that debasement and be kind. John R. McConica was a college graduate. He married a beautiful young woman, and on the statement of Sam Hadley, the first weeks of wedded life were full of bliss. But John was a tippler, and finally drink dragged him down. Most of his time was spent in saloons. No provision was made for his wife and children, and finally the beautiful, cultured girl went back to her father in an eastern city. But she loved Jack, as she called him, and could not forget him. By the intervention of friends she kept on his track. Letter after letter reached the saloon where he was accustomed to hang out. Finally he got into a drunken brawl and had a bad gash cut in his eye. He was taken to the hospital and his wife got some Episcopal church women to visit him and encourage him. As soon as he was able to leave the hospital he got into a second row and again his face was badly hurt. On hearing this the wife set out, one hot August morning, by the Fall River boat, to reach the town in which he lay bruised and bleeding. Thinking that it might encourage his sinking heart she sent him a message saying, Jack, I am coming at once. Will take the boat today. He found that the boat would come in Sunday morning. His forehead was bandaged with absorbent cotton; strips of sticking plaster were about his head and cheek and nose to hold them together. He had on neither shirt, coat nor vest. An old linen duster supplied the place of all these garments. His trouser legs were split behind nearly to the knees, and at every step they would flop like a scarecrow in a cornfield. He had no stockings and his feet were sticking out from his shoes. He was dirty and exhausted from hunger. But he knew his wife was coming and he wanted to see her. Hundreds of Newports most fashionable guests would be on the boat, but Jack could not resist the desire to go down to the pier to see the one who had been so much to him. He intended to keep out of sight as much as possible, so he hid behind a big dry-goods box on the pier and watched the beautiful boat as she slowly steamed into the dock. Although he was trying to keep himself hidden, he would peep out to see if the dear one was on board. There was another one, too, who was looking with both her eyes, and that was the loved one; and love has keen, sharp eyes. She was watching with all her loving heart to see if she could get a glimpse of Jack, and sure enough, she caught a view of his disfigured face as he peeped around the corner of the box where he was hiding. She flew down the gang-plank, and running up to the poor tramp she cried: Oh, Jack, Jack! and threw her arms about his neck and kissed him. She was a beautiful woman, and dressed as daintily as a queen, but she took his arm and walked up the pier in front of that company of millionaires and fine people. It was a sight to make angels weep. Charity suffereth long, and is kind.
IT IS UNWITTINGLY GENEROUS
Charity envieth not. I have already said that an unwholesome temper is a great sorrow-producing agency. And yet the spirit of envy is a close second in its power to sadden the world. In whatever walk of life you find an envious man or woman, you find one subject to fits of sullenness, and one almost sure to subject others to severe criticism and harsh treatment. Plutarch tells us that Themistocles was so carried away with the love of glory, so immoderately desirous of distinguishing himself by some great action, that, though he was very young when the battle of Marathon was fought, and Miltiades was everywhere extolled, he was observed to keep much alone, to be very pensive, and not to attend the usual entertainments. When he was asked the reason by his friends, who wondered at the change, he said the trophies of Miltiades would not suffer him to sleep.
There is no more godlike grace than for a soul to be able to rejoice in its superiors, for a business man to take pleasure in the man who can do business better than he, for the minister to love and praise the minister who calls greater crowds about him than he himself can, for the mother to admire the neighbor woman who has brought up even better children than her own, and for a church member to praise a fellow-Christian whose capability has resulted in exaltation to office and honor.
The point of competition is the best place conceivable for the revelation of a Christian spirit. One of the most Christian men I have ever known revealed his character at this very point. I asked him one day if he did not find it a hardship to occupy a secondary place and to take orders whereas it had once been his right to give them, and he answered, In no wise. On the contrary, there is not a success that comes to my superior that is not as much my joy as though it were my own. In fact, it is my own if it honor my Christ. And the open secret of that mans life was charitycharity to God and love for fellowmen. Charity envieth not.
IT IS WILLINGLY UNSELFISH
One can hardly imagine the different directions in which selfishness runs until he studies the Apostles definition of unselfishness and sees how many elements enter into the latter.
Charity vaunteth not itself.
The selfish man finds it impossible to be silent regarding his attainments. There is no tribute you can pay another but it provokes him to some expression of self-estimation.
Is not puffed up.
Selfishness cannot escape the strutting attitude; it inflates like a peacock; it expands like a balloon; it forgets that, as in both these instances, the whole business is accomplished by the use of hot air.
Doth not behave itself unseemly.
The truest gentility is never possible to the self-seeking! The fact that Pharaoh was born and bred in court could not save him from coarse behavior; but if Moses had never seen the inside of a palace his meek spirit would have made him a Chesterfield in any company. Henry Drummond spoke truly when he said, Put the most untutored persons into the highest society, and if they have a reservoir of Love in their heart they will not behave themselves unseemly; they simply cannot do it. And then he illustrates: Carlyle said of Robert Burns that there was no truer gentleman in Europe. It was because he loved everythingthe mouse, and the daisy, and all the things that God had made. So with this simple passport he could mingle with any society, and enter courts and palaces from his little cottage on the banks of the Ayr. You know the meaning of the word gentleman. It means a gentle mana man who does things gently, with love. And that is the whole mystery of it. The gentle man cannot in the nature of things do an ungentle, an ungentlemanly thing. The ungentle soul, the inconsiderate, unsympathetic nature cannot do anything else. Charity doth not behave itself unseemly.
The sentences that follow seem a logical sequence to thisSeeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.
I have often contended, and I solemnly believe, that sickness as a rule does not sweeten the spirit of a man, but sours it instead. As a rule it does not produce unselfishness, but fruits in its opposite. And yet, if there be love enough in the heart, even the sick will remain unselfish, be patient before provocation, take little account of its own suffering. What better illustration could be found of these facts than that revealed by the life of Mrs. Bella Cook, nicknamed, The Saint of Second Avenue, by the people whose lives she blessed. Recently a contributor to the Christian Herald rehearsed how in her early life she was employed by Anton G. Phelps as a Bible Reader. After she became an invalid, Mr. Phelps contributed largely to her support, and made her the medium through which he distributed his alms to the poor. The William E. Dodge family, especially Miss Grace Dodge, also became greatly interested in Mrs. Cook and dispensed their charities by her hand, as did the Vanderbilts, Mrs. Field, Mrs. Henry Clues, Mrs. Charles Stickney, Lady Henry Somerset, and others. For fifty-four years Bella Cook never rose from her bed, yet scores of cases of poverty she carefully investigateddispensing to each according to her superior judgment; and never once did one of these alms seekers quit her bedside without a word of warning or encouragement.
Mrs. Cook believed in Divine healing, but after Dr. Cullis and others had prayed for her, without restoration, she said, Gods answer to me is that given to PaulMy grace is sufficient for thee, and so I will go on happy without health. She so far absorbed herself in devotion to the church, to the loved ones, to the poor and lost, that she seemed often to forget her own suffering, and the writer in the Christian Herald says, She was surrounded by an atmosphere of spiritual gentleness, tenderness and benevolence, which was wafted from Paradise. Words were insufficient to picture her affectionate bearing, her chaste nature and the enduring, unmurmuring submission to the Divine will. Her soul was a gem of rare beauty for the Masters crown. She herself is the author of two volumes in the nature of an autobiography, and the proof of her triumph is in the title, Rifted Clouds. Kate Upson Clark, writing regarding her books said, They remind one of The Imitation of Christ, and the Saints Rest. No wonder! They expressed both!
Ah, beloved, we who have been under the blessing of God, but have been given to vaunting ourselves, to being puffed up, to behaving ourselves unseemly, to seeking our own, to indulging in easy provocation, to taking account of evil; let us remember the grace we need to cure us of all this, and to accomplish in us the more conquering Christian life! Only such as have this grace, Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things!
If there were time one ought to elaborate each of these sentences. There are some very decent people who seem to rejoice in unrighteousness; at least if we judge them by what occupies their lipsthey are scandal-mongers. And there are some that rejoice little in the truth, at least if we may judge them by the fads of faith after which they are following and their semi-defense of falsehood. Every will-o-the-wisp starts them on a new lead. Name it New Thought, call it Progressive, publish it as the latest scientific discovery, and they are on the search.
But at the seventh verse the Apostle seems to change his theme from that of willing unselfishness, and by four sentences gets ready for the great statement which looks to a conclusion of the whole matter, namely, Charity never faileth. Leading up to that he declared, love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
IT IS WONDROUSLY STABLE
Charity never faileth. After all, its transcendent superiority is in its stability. Concerning prophecy the Apostle says that Shall pass away; concerning tongues, they shall cease; concerning knowledge, it shall vanish away, at least that which we once knew must give place when the larger acquisition comes, for now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known. We know only as a child, but when we become men we put away childish things. We see superficially as in a mirror darkly, but we are destined to see face to face. Yes, the partial knowledge shall pass. The accomplishments of life are many of them like shipsthey pass in the night. But the grace of life is like life itself, it abideth forever.
The point at which most men miss the mark is by seeking that which seems important but proves to be only a passing accomplishment. It does not take long for the tongue of the orator to be silent, and the sounds that pass his lips to die forever from the ears of men. And, it does not take long for the field of battle to forget the successful commander and turn itself to the common use of corn growing. Macaulay tells us of the great William Pitt, the Commoner of England, who had vanquished French marshalls in Germany and French admirals on the Atlantic, who had conquered for his country one great empire, on the frozen shores of Ontario, and another under the tropical sun near the mouth of the Ganges, that it was not in the nature of things that popularity, such as he had, should be permanent. It was gone before his children were old enough to understand that their father was a great man. He was at length placed in situations in which neither his talents for administration, nor his talents for debate, appeared to the best advantage. The energy and decision which had eminently fitted him for the direction of war were not needed in time of peace.
Ah, truly, the most praised accomplishments of men soon pass away. But the one grace that abides is the grace that comes down from above; the grace that defines the very character of God himself Charity. Charity never faileth!
But love is more than a passive grace; it is active; and when you look to its accomplishments, the truth obtains, love never fails. Our faith often falls short and the Master has occasion to rebuke us O ye of little faith. Our hopes are often dashed to the earth. They die with comparative ease. But Charity never faileth. That is why the Apostle could say, Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Apply it to character and it is true! None the less true when employed with reference to accomplishments. I could, if there were time, illustrate this from every walk of life. It is true in domestic lifeCharity never faileth. It is true in social lifeCharity never faileth. It is true in religious lifeCharity never faileth.
The man who undertakes to win his fellows to Christ may need other accomplishments and may employ all capabilities, but the untiring and invincible grace is charity. Permit another illustration from down in Water Street, in conclusion.
One night an old man came in. He was about sixty years of age, but he looked a full hundred. He was one of the most typical tramps that had ever entered that resort of hobos. He was more than six feet tall, his dirty gray beard was a foot long, and his hair of the same color hung a foot down his back. His eyes were bleared and full of matter, and his face had not been touched with water for weeks. He wore an old ragged overcoat, which looked as if it had been pulled out of some ash barrel, and it was drawn up around his throat and fastened with a nail. His trousers were literally rags. He had on no shirt or undershirt and on his feet were pieces of rags tied up with strings. He peered forward and said, Mr. Hadley, are you there? Yes, answered that marvelous worker, I am here. Will you pray for me, I am contrite. No sooner had Mr. Hadley prayed than he said, Well, I am saved; no doubt about it. And then turning to Mr. Hadley he asked, What are you going to give me? Well, I will give you a nights lodging. Nothing else. I will give you a quarter for your breakfast. Thats right; I always knowed you was a Christian! Ill come every night. Oh, dont, said Mr. Hadley. Yes; Ill come every night. Now this very man was a college graduate. He had studied law in the office of E. M. Stanton, the great War Secretary under the immortal Lincoln. He had entered upon what promised to be a lucrative practice, when whisky dragged him down. He entered the army and came out of it a confirmed drunkard. His degradation was rapid. Finally, when home, wife and children were gone, he descended to the very depths. Next night he was on hand again and went up and tried to put his arms around Hadleys neck, and Hadley repulsed him and pointed to the door, and said, Go! Do you mean it? he asked. If you linger around here much longer I will show you whether I mean it or not. So he moved slowly away, cursing Hadley as he went. He cursed the mission and everybody else, and swore that he would die in the streets before he would ever come again.
It had been a sore night for Hadley; drunken longshoremen had disturbed his meeting and perturbed his spirit, and so he was more brusk with the old man than he would have been. A little while later when Hadley came to pray, not a word would pass his lips. He remembered his harsh treatment of the old Colonel, as they called him. He went to bed, but could not sleep; he could think of nothing but the poor old man going out into the night, and he says, I believe I learned a little, just a little, that night of what the blessed Jesus must have suffered for me when he spent that awful night in the Garden. Two weary weeks dragged slowly by after Hadleys treatment of the old man when the monthly meeting for workers was held. Hadley was asked to speak. Rising he said, Yes, I have something to say. He told how he had treated the old man and said, I have been condemned ever since. The mission workers prayed for the Old Colonel and for Hadley that God would forgive him if he had been rude to the old man. That night the Old Colonel was back again on the back bench. When Mr. Hadley saw him he went straight to him and put his arms around his neck and burst into tears. He took him out to a restaurant and got him a beefsteak, some potatoes, bread and butter and coffee, and sat down beside him while he ate. Hadley said, He crowded it in like a famished animal. I got a tub of hot water, a bar of soap and some towels and washed this poor outcast and threw his old vermin-infested rags into the fire and dressed him in clean clothes. He took him to a barber and had him put the clipper on him, cut the long hair and beard, but left the moustache. At night we went to the meeting and he came forward for prayers, but oh, how changed! His whole frame trembled with emotion and tears fell from his eyes as he cried, Oh, Lord, if it is not too late, forgive me, I am a poor lost sinner. For six nights he was at the altar pleading, but when Saturday night came he rose from his knees with heaven in his face, and cried, Oh, Brother Hadley, I am saved! I believe it, said Hadley, and then they did hug one another. From that moment the old beggar tramp was changed into a child of God. He fairly loathed rum and its evil effects. God seemed to restore his intellect which had been so badly impaired. It was a marvel how his youth began to return, and from that time he walked the streets a dignified, Christian gentleman. Thousands gave him audience while he told the story of the love of Jesus. When he sickened, at last, they put him in the Presbyterian Hospital whence he passed to glory and triumph, and another star was set in Sam Hadleys crown; and another friend on the far shore waited to welcome him into the eternal habitation. Charity never faileth! and though, of the abiding graces, there are three, faith, hope, charity, the greatest of these is charity!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
Butlers Comments
SECTION 2
Giftlessness With Love (1Co. 13:4-7)
4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1Co. 13:4-6 Rejects: In these verses are listed the perversities of character with which love has nothing to do. Only agape-love has the power to restrain from doing what is wrong, hurtful and destructive (see 2Co. 5:14); (a) Love is not impatient. Love suffers and waits. Love refuses to give way to anger and vindictiveness. Love waits, hoping for repentance. Love is not resentful when treated unjustly. Love is David with SaulChrist with the Pharisees. Love never gives up, never diesit goes on and on; (b) Love is not unkind. Some patiently endure wrong out of sheer obstinacy, but to be kind to the person who has done the wrong is the victory of agape-love. Barclay says, There is so much Christianity which is good but unkind. The Greek word translated kind is chresteuetai which means literally, serviceable, good, useable. In other words, kindness means action, service, giving. The greatest good a Christian can ever do this side of heaven is to be kind to people (see Luk. 10:29-37). William Penn said: I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore there is any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to any fellow being let me do it now and not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. (c) Love is not jealous. Only agape-love can see all the inequalities of life and remain content with its own place. Paul had learned contentment in whatever state he found himself (Php. 4:11-13). Where there is no love, there will inevitably be envy, jealousy and hatred. Absence of agape-love left Cain open to envy and produced the first murder in human history. In its baser form, jealousy not only desires what others have, but being unable to attain it, begrudges the good others have. It does not even care so much that it does not have these things as it wishes others had not gotten them. Agape-love rejoices when others have good fortune. (d) Love is not boastful. The Greek word here is perpereutai and is used only in this one place in the New Testament. In classical Greek it means, wind-bag or braggart and Moffatt has translated it, does not make a parade of itself. Love does not show off. Love is quiet, unassuming, and humble. When love does anything it does not do it for praise or the applause of others. Love is not conceited. (e) Love is not arrogant. The Greek word for arrogant is phusioutai, puffed-up. Love is not contemptuous of others. Love is not the Pharisee who thanks God he is not like publicans (Luk. 18:9-14). Love is not obsessed with self-importance. Give a man a little earthly authority or position and one soon sees whether he has love or arrogance. (f) Love is not rude. The Greek words are ouk aschemonei, meaning literally, does not act unbecomingly, or, without graciousness. There is the type of Christian who thinks real loyalty to the Bible means one must act bluntly, candidly, without tact and charm, almost brutally. There may be candidness there, but there is no winsomeness. Love is courteous, tactful, polite, and respectful without compromising truth. Love applies the Golden Rule. Love makes it possible to be right without being rude. (g) Love never insists on its own way. The Greek reads: ou zetei ta heautes; love is willing to sacrifice its own interests for that of others. Love does not demand its own rights (even though it may have some) above those of others. Barclay writes: In the last analysis, there are in this world only two kinds of peoplethose who are continually thinking of their rights and those who are continually thinking of their duties . . . those insisting on their privileges and those who are remembering their responsibilities. . . . There can never be true love where there is the Me first attitude. (h) Love is not irritable, (Gr. paroxunetai, from which we get the English word paroxysm, which means, a fit, an attack, a convulsion of emotion). The Greek word means, literally, hyper-sharp, or, intense sharpening. The word easily in some versions, is not in the Greek text. Barclay translates, Love never flies into a temper fit. Having a paroxysm of exasperation is an indication of the absence of agape-love. The Jewish rabbis made four classifications of people dealing with provocation: (1) those easily provoked but hard to pacifytheir loss is cancelled by their gain; (2) those hard to provoke but hard to pacifytheir gain is cancelled by their loss; (3) those easily provoked and easily pacifiedthey are evil; (4) those hard to provoke and easily pacifiedthey are righteous. But agape-love is never bad-tempered. Love must be angry with sin, but never irritable with the sinner. Greatness is not in position, but in disposition! (i) Love is not resentful. The Greek phrase is, ou logizetai to kakon, literally, does not keep books or an account-ledger of evil. Love will always keep a record of the many kindnesses it receives, but never a record of wrongs done to it. Love does not nurse grudges; it makes a concerted effort to forget all wrongs done to it. (j) Love does not rejoice at wrong. The Greek word translated wrong is adikia and means, injustice. Moffatt translates, Love is never glad when others go wrong; love is gladdened by goodness. Love does not delight in exposing the weaknesses and sins of other people. Love will agonize over the sin and condemn the sin, but will always yearn to cover and protect the person who has fallen. Some people get a certain malicious pleasure in hearing about someone elses fall or trouble. Love does not do that. Love wants the truth. Love is brave enough to face the truth. Love has nothing to conceal and so is glad when the truth prevails. But love always uses the truth to build up, never to destroy.
1Co. 13:7 Reverse: Love respects and urges men to do that which is positive good. Love cherishes the righteousness that can only be done when agape-love of God is working through believers. (a) Love cherishes the bearing of all things. The Greek word is stegei. It means primarily, to protect, or preserve by coveringto keep off something that threatens, thus it came to mean to endure. Love would rather protect than attack. Love gets under the load of life and bears it to the limit. We must learn to bear offences done to us if we ever expect to be able to forgive. C.S. Lewis writes, To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casketsafe, dark, motionless, airlessit will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. the only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. We must bear one anothers burdens if we wish to fulfill Christs law of love (Gal. 6:1-5). We must bear the distasteful task of attempting to restore wandering brethren (Jas. 5:19-20). (b) Love wants to believe all things. Agape-love is not blind gullibility. It does not follow every kind of doctrine. Love speaks the truth (see Eph. 4:11-16). Love is discriminating and rejoices only in the truth. But love is not innately suspicious. Love strives to ascribe the best motives to others in their actions. Love looks for the best in everyone and everything. Love takes people at their word and always hopes in their trustworthiness, as long as it can, and then mourns over those who stumble and fall. (c) Love tries to find hope in all things. When love is disappointed in someone in whom it believed love will yet hope for better things. Love never despairs completely of anyone. Jesus never considered any man hopelesshe tried to the very end to reclaim Judas Iscariot. Hope does not, of course, try to persuade itself that a thief is honest or that the criminal is innocent, but it knows God is not willing that any man should perish. So love always hopes for repentance. (d) Love endures all things. The Greek word is hupomenei, literally, remaining under. This does not mean passive resignation, but the kind of spirit which conquers its setbacks, trials and circumstances by faith in God. It is the kind of dogged constancy which hangs-in in spite of hardships and obstacles. It is the enduring love shown by the patriarch Job, who said, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth. It is the overcoming endurance of the apostle Paul who said, For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2Co. 12:10).
The Christians at Corinth were eager for manifestations of the Spirit (1Co. 14:12) but they did not have agape-love. Paul admonished them to strive to excel in building up the church (1Co. 14:12), but their passion for the spectacular miraculous gifts, to satisfy their egomania, was dividing and tearing down the church. In his attempt to stop this self-destruction, Paul inserts this parenthetical treatise on love and states emphatically that Christians would be much better off to have love whether they ever had a miraculous gift or not. He proves, in fact, that while Christians may get along without any miraculous gifts at all (1Co. 13:8-13), they can never get along without agape-love. Love will more than make up for any lack of giftedness anyone may ever have, miraculous or otherwise. John the Baptist had no miraculous gifts, but he had love. The women who ministered to Jesus had no miraculous gifts such as the apostles had, but they had love. Dorcas had no miraculous gifts, but she had love. Love surpasses all other ways of edifying, or building the church. It surpasses all gifts of teaching, preaching, liberality, ruling, organizing, mercifulness, or whatever. Love is the supreme way. No Christian who really loves is inferior.
Appleburys Comments
Text
1Co. 13:4-7. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; 6 rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 7 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Commentary
What Love Does (47)
Love suffers long and is kind.If we would know the meaning of love, see it in action. Love has the quality that lasts and it is kind. These two characteristics of love if put into practice would by themselves stop most of the wrangling in churches. In all probability there were in Corinth some short-tempered men who could not look with kindness on the fact that some members of the church seemed to be more prominent than they. This was the foot saying, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body. We should think of the kindness of God our Saviour and be kind to one another (Tit. 3:3-5; Eph. 4:31-32).
Love envies not.Love is not jealous of the honor or success of others. But there was jealousy in the Corinthian church because one had the gift of tongues while others had gifts that were less desirable to them. But all the gifts were distributed by the same Spirit according to His will for the benefit of all the church. Love is the antidote for jealousy in the church.
love vaunteth not itself.Love does not brag about its gifts, possessions, honors, or accomplishments. It is this spirit of the braggart that tends to produce jealousy in a church. Bragging about ability to speak in tongues was destroying the body of Christ at Corinth. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (1Co. 1:31).
is not puffed up.It isnt inflateda thing that arrogance and pride produce. Some of the Corinthians were puffed up over position, but failed to carry out their responsibilities in the church (1Co. 5:2).
doth not behave itself unseemly.The conduct of love is not unbecoming to a Christian. Christianity is rooted and grounded in love. But much of the conduct of the church at Corinth was unbecoming to men professing to love God and claiming to be the objects of His love. They were guilty of practicing division, immorality, going to law before heathen judges, and wrangling over the possession of spiritual gifts, especially the gift of tongues. If ones conduct is unbecoming to a Christian, he needs to be shown the most excellent way, the way of love.
seeketh not its own.Selfishness was the root of much of the trouble in the church at Corinth. If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? The body is not one member, but many. There is work enough and honor enough for every member of the church. Love is the axe to use to cut the root of selfishness before it bears bitterness and strife to the shame of those who call themselves the body of Christ. Paul had this to say to the Philippians, in lowliness of mind each counting others better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Php. 2:3-5).
is not provoked.It is not love that makes one irritable. We stand amazed at the gentleness of Jesus in situations that would have provoked most men, but He was the embodiment of love. The church at Corinth needed to be more Christ-like in so many ways, especially in the use of spiritual gifts. Sharp disagreement over the relative value of tongues and prophecy was making the church appear ridiculous in the eyes of the pagan community to which it was supposed to be bringing the gospel of redemption.
taketh not account of evil.Watch that man who sets down in his notebook every evil deed done to him whether real or imaginary for the purpose of getting even. Love is not his master. Whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. The church needs to remember that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth.Is it possible that there were some in Corinth who were rejoicing over the fact that the leader of the party to which they belonged had the gift of tongues even though he might have been misusing it for personal glory? Did some rejoice in the assumption that they could practice unrighteousness with impunity because they were members of the church? Love cannot rejoice in the unrighteous conduct of misguided church members. Love does rejoice with the truth. John says, I rejoice greatly that I have found certain of thy children walking in the truth, even as we received commandment from the Father (2Jn. 1:4).
beareth all things.Paul spoke of bearing the hard things that he faced in his work as an apostle to the Gentiles in order to win some to Christ. The root from which the word beareth comes means a roof or a cover. Love wards off insults and injuries; love wont mention the unlovely traits in others; love wont remember the unkind deed, but is always ready to forgive. The church at Corinth with its imagined slights over the distribution of the spiritual needed so much to be shown the most excellent way.
believeth all things.Some people cannot believe that there is any good in those who do not support their views or belong to their party or follow the leader they believe to be superior. Some who followed Apollos discredited every thing that Paul did. Love looks for the good in others and is willing to believe that others not only mean well but actually do some good. Some elders cannot bring themselves to believe that the deacons are really concerned about the church. Some deacons cannot believe that it is an honor to serve in the body of Christ, but long for the promotion to the position of elder. But love for the Lord, and love for His church, and love for the lost believes that it is a privilege to serve in the most inconspicuous way that Christ might be exalted and that the lost might be saved.
hopeth all things.Gentiles once had no hope and were without God in the world (Eph. 2:12), but in hope we were saved (Rom. 8:24). Had some of the Corinthians forgotten these vital issues? Israel lost hope of the promised land as they faced the trials of the journey. Some of the Corinthians were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead (1Co. 15:12). But love could say with Peter, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1Pe. 1:3). Is there any wonder that the Corinthians were striving for supposed superiority in the possession of spiritual gifts instead of walking the most excellent way of love?
endureth all things.Love is like the good soldier who stands up under every attack of the enemy. Love is the way to defeat schism in the body of Christ, for it leads to obedience to Him rather than human leaders.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(4) Charity suffereth long.Better, Love is long-suffering. Here follows a description of love. Descriptions of positive characteristics and negations of evil qualities are now employed by the Apostle in what he would have us believe to be his impossible task of adequately describing true love.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
b. Picture of Love in daily life, 1Co 13:4-7 .
The hyperboles of the apostle in the last paragraph rush like a cataract; the descriptions of this paragraph flow like a gentle and limpid stream. He does not describe love in its heroic moods, dying for its loved objects, but in the aspects of ordinary life, and particularly in references to those vain glories and bickers among his Corinthians, of which love would be the corrective. He gives fifteen traits of love. The first three touch the patient kindness of love; the next eight are negatives, describing qualities which love does not exhibit, but which, unfortunately, the tempers of the Corinthians did; then four traits which our apostle’s conduct was exhibiting towards them. The passage is no fancy piece, but aims at practical life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4. Charity The love of the apostle is not merely an emotion, but also a principle and purpose. It is, indeed, more or less grounded in the moral and sentimental feeling, but it often exists in full action in unemotional persons. It is a strong wish, desire, and purpose for the happiness of another or others, and a happiness in seeing that other’s happiness accomplished. It is verified by the blessed Spirit; it co-exists with the love of God. The two great commandments are, supreme love to God, and love to our fellow as to ourself. It is the primal virtue, of which all other virtues are but varying forms. This love, though unknown to heathendom, was taught in the Old Testament, and appears in full glory in the New, incarnated in Christ and registered in his evangelic law.
Suffereth long The stronger that love the greater the suffering it will endure, both for and from its object, and still remain kind in feeling and manner. Love is the parent of patience, forbearance, and firmness.
Envieth not In the eight negatives now following Paul reprehends the various forms of selfishness which lovelessness assumes, namely: envy, braggartism, ostentation, offensiveness, self-interest, irritability, suspicion, injuriousness.
This selfishness is not identical with, but is the exaggeration of, that self-love or desire of happiness which is the right and duty of every intelligent being. The primal law does not forbid us to love ourself, nor require us to love our neighbour more than ourself. Indeed, duty to ourself, the obligation of self-love, stands first. We owe and must perform duties to ourselves which we cannot perform for others, nor others for us. This the law of love, the golden rule, presupposes. If we love our neighbour as ourself we will not require him to do for us what we should do for ourself; and we should concede to him the right to perform to himself solely the duties each one owes solely to himself. There is thus an equal circle of right and duty drawn around every individual self. But selfishness undertakes to secure one’s own advantage in disregard, or at the expense of, the rights of others. It violates the law of equal love for every one.
Vaunteth not itself Brags not of personal superiorities, false or real.
Not puffed up Imaginary assumption of personal importance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
How True Love Is Revealed (13:4-8a).
This definition of love covers all angles. Because it portrays the essentials of love looking from our point of view, it gives us a totally rounded view of what true love is. It thus covers what God’s love to us is like. It covers in depth precisely what Jesus’ love was like. It covers what our response to Him should be like. It covers how we should behave towards those we love, and especially to our fellow believers. And finally it covers what our behaviour should be like with regard to spiritual gifts, both in their use and misuse. Thus we would need to expound these verses a number of times, and more, if we wished to draw from them the fullness of their meaning. It is primarily a picture of true and genuine godly love, both God’s and ours.
1Co 13:4-8 a ‘Love suffers long, and is kind. Love envies not. Love does not behave conspicuously like a braggart, is not puffed up, does not behave itself disgracefully, seeks not its own, is not provoked, does not take account of evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.’
This is the evidence of true love. Firstly as an overall idea this depicts God’s love for those whom He has chosen, although it is not all directly applicable. His love is longsuffering and kind. It is true and righteous. It seeks only our good. He is never like a jealous man or a braggart, nor is He easily provoked. Rather He rejoices in the truth found within us. His love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things endures all thing. It is constant and true. And it will not fail in the end. And it is our consciousness of this love which will enable our true response in love, for it is when we behold His love that we know what love is like.
But this also describes the love that was revealed by Jesus and what God’s love for us should produce in our hearts. And that alone fully satisfies all the facets described in the words. And it does so as regards life in general, and as regards spiritual gifts in particular. For it is the attitude of heart described here which is what results in a free and open channel of blessing through which the Spirit can manifest Himself, so that the fruit of the Spirit is love (Gal 5:22). And there is no doubt that Paul picks his words carefully here as a rebuke to some of the Corinthians, for these failings appear elsewhere in the letter.
The love that is truly from God is longsuffering and patiently enduring. It is kind and compassionate. (Compare here Rom 2:4 for both these ideas). It never feels envy, for it wants others to be blessed. It is not jealous, because it seeks the good of others and delights in their happiness. It rejoices in what others have in their prosperity, unless that prosperity is harmful, and in their blessings and gifts. It does not try to push itself forward or seek credit or admiration for what it does. It is not proud and boastful for its thought is only of others. It never behaves in any way that is unseemly, for it is fully thoughtful and considerate of others, and is clean and pure. It does not seek things for itself, for it is totally unselfish. It does not insist on its own way, it does not constantly demand its own rights, its thoughts are not concentrated on its own advantage. It does not react to provocation, or become irritated. It behaves well even to those who have behaved evilly towards it, for it does not take their evil into account in its response The point here is that it will not let its behaviour towards someone be affected for the worse by the memory of those wrongs. It will, of course, unselfishly keep in mind what people are in making its decisions, for the good of the whole, but it will not allow it to affect personal regard.
It is sad at the bad behaviour of others because it knows what the consequences of that bad behaviour will be for the person concerned, and it gets no joy from their weakness and failure. It wishes well for those who behave badly. It rejoices when the truth is at work because aware that it will bring blessing and deliverance to many. It rejoices when it sees truth operative in men. And it always rejoices in truth however manifested because it knows that in the end truth will help to bring all to rights. It puts up with anything thrown at it, with any insult or bad behaviour towards itself. NEB puts it, ‘there is nothing love cannot face’. It covers up in others everything that might badly affect its own response. (Stego can mean to bear, to endure, to cover). It always believes for the best, without thereby being foolish, for it is also thinking of the good of all. It always trusts that God will act in all situations for the fulfilment of His own will, and acts accordingly. It always hopes for that which is best, for what is for the good of all. It endures through thick and thin. We could speak of the tenacity of love. It is unfailing in all its ways, and is itself unfailing. For ‘love never fails’.
So is presented in microcosm the full orbed Christian life, the basis of true spirituality, the evidence of God working within, the consequence of walking with Christ, the result of His life being lived through us, the essence of what God is. Without at least the beginning of this springing up in our hearts we cannot call ourselves Christians, for this is the result of God working within us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13), and of our knowing God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1Jn 4:8).
And when it comes down to the question of spiritual gifts exercised in the church that love will be revealed in the same way. It is longsuffering with those who use the gifts unwisely or amateurishly, it is kind in its attitude to such situations and to those involved. It does not envy those who have greater gifts. It does not push itself forward because of the gifts it has. It is not puffed up if it has the greater gifts. It does not use its gifts in an unseemly way, or respond in an unseemly way to the way others use their gifts. When it seeks gifts it does not seek them for its own benefit, but for the benefit of all. It does not allow itself to be provoked, either by what is done or what is said. It does not respond badly because the user of the spiritual gift has behaved badly towards it previously.
It does not rejoice at those whose wrong use of spiritual gifts leads them astray, although it may seek lovingly and in gentleness of spirit to put the situation right. It rejoices whenever the spiritual gifts result in the truth being known and enjoyed. It bears with love every manifestation of gifts whether it approves or not, it believes, unless it has knowledge to the contrary, that those using the gifts are probably doing so with the best intent and reacts accordingly. It hopes and longs that any problems will be sorted out so that the user comes into full blessing. It puts up with and endures even that with which it is sometimes unhappy. Thus it is not always passing judgment on those whose lack of true knowledge makes them immature in using the gifts. And it will always do what it can to help such people, for it never fails.
This does not mean that such love demonstrates a lack of concern for any misuses, for, where it has responsibility for the control of the church meeting, it will play its full part in controlling the use of those gifts, and will use discernment where it has a duty to do so, but it will always do so compassionately and tenderly, with the thought of the good of all, even the perpetrator, in mind. Otherwise it will leave matters to be dealt with by those responsible in the proper way without passing judgment. So the one who loves ensures the continuation of the use of spiritual gifts while looking to God and the eldership to enable them to be used for the best. That is why Paul later gives the guidance that he does.
And by taking up these right attitudes that love will ensure that the one who is himself revealing that love can himself use his spiritual gifts to the full benefit and blessing of the whole of the church, for his heart will be right and he will be a true channel for the Spirit’s blessings.
In contrast some of the Corinthians do envy (1Co 3:3); do boast (e.g. 1Co 3:18; 1Co 8:2); are puffed up (1Co 4:6): some of their women do behave disgracefully (1Co 11:5-6); they are self-seeking (1Co 10:24; 1Co 10:33), and so on. They need to look to their beginnings.
This description of love, which lays it bare to its foundations, must for one brief moment surely cause us to put all else aside, firstly as we bask in God’s love for us, and then as we bask in the love that should flow from us to others. But then having done so, we must move on to see its importance and its permanence
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Characteristics of Love 1Co 13:4-7 give us a list of actions that testify to the love walk. Paul has just explained in the previous verses (1Co 13:1-3) how operating in the gifts of the spirit are not a true sign of the walking in love, neither is the giving of our goods nor the sacrifice of our lives the true evidence of love. When a person exhibits patience, kindness, contentment, humility, gentleness, seeking the well-being of others, temperance, peace, purity, joy, longsuffering, faith and hope, as well as consistency and all of these virtues, then one can truly know that a person is motivated by love. The expanded description of love in 1Co 13:4-7 can be summarized as “labours of love,” a phrase used in 1Th 1:3. That is, it takes effort to walk in love.
1Th 1:3, “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love , and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;”
1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:4
Illustration – Illustration of God’s patience with us:
Rom 2:4, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Rom 9:22, “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:”
2Pe 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Illustration – God’s long suffering over wicked men in the days of Noah
1Pe 3:20, “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”
Illustration – Jesus Christ was longsuffering with Paul before his conversion:
1Ti 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
Jesus endured much reviling and persecution in His ministry. His was not fighting back as they spit in His face and slapped Him and as He hung on the Cross. This is a good example of longsuffering and love.
1Co 13:4 “and is kind” Comments – The opposite of “kind” is “malicious, full of guile, hypocrisy, envy and evil speaking.”
1Pe 2:1-3, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
Psa 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
God is kind to evil people:
Luk 6:35, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”
God’s kindness brings us to repentance:
Rom 2:4, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
It is the fruit of the Spirit:
Gal 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”
God’s kindness and mercy appeared in Jesus Christ:
Tit 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”
God’s kindness and grace was shown by God in Jesus Christ:
Eph 2:7, “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
1Co 13:4 “charity envieth not” – Illustrations:
1. Joseph’s ten brothers sold him for slavery out of envy:
Gen 37:11, “And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.”
Act 7:9, “And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,”
2. The mob at Thessalonica were moved with envy against Paul and his friends:
Act 17:5, “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.”
1Co 13:4 “ charity vaunteth not itself” Comments Love does not brag or to act like a windbag.
1Co 13:4 “is not puffed up” Comments Love is not high minded.”
1. Knowledge puffs up:
1Co 8:1, “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.”
2. To think oneself more righteous than another instead of mourning for sin:
1Co 5:2, “And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.”
3. Being puffed up comes by a fleshly mind:
Col 2:18, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,”
1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:5
The Judgment of the Nations in Mat 25:31-46.
Mat 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Rom 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Php 2:20, “For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.”
Scripture References Compare:
Mat 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
Luk 6:31, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”
Php 2:3-4, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
Php 2:21, “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”
1Co 13:5 “is not easily provoked” Love is not easily angered. The noun form of this verb is used in Act 15:39.
Act 15:39, “And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;”
God is not easily provoked, or angered:
Psa 103:8, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 145:8, “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.”
We are to imitate God in this area also:
Pro 14:29, “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.”
Jas 1:19, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
There is a righteous anger. Sometimes, one must pursue righteous justice. At other times, the anger should be forgotten and overlooked.
Psa 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”
Eph 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”
Heb 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Jesus overturned the table of the moneychangers in His anger:
Mat 21:12, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,”
1Co 13:5 “thinketh no evil” Scripture Reference – Note:
Zec 8:7, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;”
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:6
Rom 12:9, “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good .”
1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:7
Comments We could paraphrase this phrase to mean, “put a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another.”
Scripture References – Note:
Pro 10:12, “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”
Rom 15:1, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
1Pe 4:8, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.”
1Co 9:12, “If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A description of true love:
v. 4. Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up,
v. 5. doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
v. 6. rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
v. 7. beareth all things, believeth all thing’s, hopes all things, endureth all things. The apostle here pictures brotherly love, in personifying it, from both the negative and the positive side; he gives no abstract definition, but describes love in its substance, conduct, and actions. In the midst of the sins, evils, and trials of the fallen world, love suffers long, is long-tempered, patient toward injurious and provoking persons. As Luther writes: “In the first place, love is long-suffering, that is, patient, is not hasty and quick to wrath, revenge, impatience, and to insist upon its own rights: but is patient and suffers the unrighteous and weak until they finally come. ” Love is kind, benignant; it renders gracious, well-disposed service to others, is full of good will toward everybody in deeds, words, and conduct. Just as the Lord has patience with sinners, with the weaknesses of His elect, 2Pe 3:9; Luk 18:7; just as He is good and kind, 1Pe 2:3, and has shown His kindness in Christ to all men, Tit 3:4, even so all Christians should be found engaged in the virtues of the Lord.
The next sentences show that love will abstain from all forms of conduct that may hurt or harm one’s neighbor. Love envies not, is not filled with selfish zeal, with passionate impetuousness; if there is need of striving in the interest of truth, it will never be done in passionate outbursts; if others have excellencies of person or of fortune, love is stimulated only to rejoicing admiration. Love makes no self-display, carefully avoids vaunting, boasting, magnifying its own real or supposed advantages; ostentation of superiority, especially of supposed superiority, is the very opposite of love. Love is not puffed up, is not guilty of moral indecency, of bad taste, is not proud in its own conceit, looking down upon others as inferior. Love does not act in an indecorous manner; it has the proper instinct for that which is seemly toward one’s neighbor; it always exhibits a dignified, noble conduct; it is never guilty of a tactlessness that forgets its own proper place and duty, failing to give to others the respect, honor, or consideration due them. Conduct of this kind is opposed to the essence of love, which demands a quiet, meek, and humble behavior, seeking to excel, in the interest of one’s neighbor, in that which is virtuous, honorable, intended to win the heart of one’s fellow-Christian.
The apostle now continues his description of love in bringing out its manner of thinking, its inner character. Love does not seek its own advantage, its own pleasure, profit, honor; it is willing to give up its own gain if one’s neighbor will but be profited. And therefore love is not embittered; it refuses to be irritated by the show of ingratitude which men return for the kindness shown them. On the contrary, under those very conditions love takes no account of evil, does not charge it against any one, does not keep it in mind, but forgives it gladly and freely. And in general, love rejoices not at wrong, is never gratified at the evil that comes upon one’s evil neighbor, nor at the fact that he persists in his evil ways. Love rather rejoices with the truth, with those that are on the side of right and truth; when God’s truth wins its way over the powers of darkness and makes men free from all unrighteousness and wrong, that is a cause of great joy to all true Christians. And particularly when a Christian brother receives that which is his in justice, then love feels the pleasure of fellow-feeling.
The apostle now reaches the climax in his characterization of love in four positive statements. All things love tolerates; not in the sense of covering and protecting wrong, but in the sense of suffering that which may be inflicted from outside. The emphasis is upon “all. ” No matter how grievous the insult on the part of those whom love has enfolded, love will continue with unabated strength. All things love believes; it simply refuses to yield to the suspicions of doubt and of consequent discouragement; it always finds an excuse for the beloved, always defends him, speaks well of him, puts the best construction on everything. Though its simplicity and trustfulness be abused again and again, it still believes that things will come out as they should. That does not mean that love is blind to the faults of the beloved, or that it would not rebuke the sins of one’s brother. But in doing so, all things love hopes for; always love looks to the future with the certainty that the beloved will yield to the persuasions of good; it takes all the disagreeable features, all the difficulties of the situation upon itself, always with the hope that the labor of love cannot be forever in vain. And so love endures all things, it never gives up in defeat. “Here we see the inner power of love: her head held high, her eyes bright and shining, her hand steady and true, her heart strong with strength from above. ” Thus Paul describes brotherly love, which is at the same time the model of that love which we owe all men, even our enemies. If we will at all times but keep this characteristic in mind, then it cannot fail that the picture will stimulate in our hearts the desire to possess true love in this highest and best form, and to avoid all that which does not agree with the glorious picture here sketched.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
1Co 13:4. Charity suffereth long The Apostle here proceeds to give us sixteen characters of divine love;upon which, if the compass of our work allowed, it would be well worth time to expatiate. 1st, Love suffereth long,is long-suffering or patient towards all men: it suffers all the weakness, ignorance, errors, infirmities, all the forwardness and littleness of faith in the children of God; all the malice and wickedness of the children of the world;feeding our enemy when he hungers; if he thirst, still giving him drink:thus continually heaping coals of fire, of melting love, upon his head: and in every step endeavouring to overcome evil with good. 2nd, It is kind, , a word not easily translated:It is soft, mild, benign; it stands at the utmost distance from moroseness, from all harshness, or sourness of spirit; and inspires the sufferer atonce with the most amiable sweetness, and the most fervent and tender affection. Consequently, love; 3rdly, Envieth not:It is impossible it should; it is directly opposite to that baneful temper; it cannot be that he who has this tender affection to all, who earnestly wishes all temporal and spiritual blessings, all good things in this world and the world to come, to every soul that God has made, should be pained at his bestowing any good gift on any child of man. Ifhe has himself received the same, he does not grieve, but rejoice, that another partakes the common benefit. If he has not, he blesses God that his brother, at least, has, and is therein happier than himself: and the greater his love, the more does he rejoice in the blessings of all mankind; the more is he removed from every kind and degree of envy towards any creature. 4thly, Love vaunteth not itself, , is not rash or hasty in judging: it will not hastily condemn any one; it does not pass a severe sentence upon a slight or sudden view of things; it first weighs all the evidence, particularly that which is brought in favour of the accused. A true lover of his neighbour is not like the generality of men, who see a little, presume a great deal, and so jump to theconclusion. No: he proceeds with wariness and circumspection, taking heed to everystep, willingly subscribing to that rule of the ancient heathens “I am so far from lightly believing what one man says against another, that I will not easily believe what a man says against himself; I will always allow him second thoughts, and many times counsel too.” 5thly, Loveis not puffedup; it does not incline or suffer any man to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but rather to think soberly; yea, it humbles the soul into the dust; it destroys all high conceits engendering pride, and makes us rejoice to be as nothing. They who are kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, cannot but in honour prefer one another. Those who, having the same love, are of one accord, do in lowliness of mind each esteem others better than themselves. See Wesley, Stanhope, Clarke, and Bengelius.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 13:4 . Love is personified; the living concrete portrait of her character , in which power to edify (1Co 8:1 ) reflects itself, is presented as if in sharply drawn outline, with nothing but short, definite, isolated traits, positively, negatively, and then positively again, according to her inexhaustible nature.
] she is long-suffering ; in face of provocations controlling her anger, repressing it, giving it up, and maintaining her own proper character. The general frame of mind for this is : she is gracious (comp Tittmann, Synon. p. 140 ff.), Clem. Cor. i. 14. The verb is found, besides, only in the Fathers.
Observe here and in what follows the asyndetic enumeration, and in this “incitatior orationis cursus ardorem et affectum” (Dissen, a [2064] Pind. Exc. II. p. 275). But to write, with Hofmann, following Lachmann, . , is less, suitable, for this reason, that, according to the traditional division, the long list of negative predicates which follows is very appropriately headed again by the subject.
] negation of all passionate, selfish feelings towards others (envy, jealousy, and such like).
] she boasts not , practises no vaunting. See Cicero, a [2065] Att. i. 14; Antonin. v. 5, and Gatak. in loc [2066] ; also Winer, Beitr. zur Verbess. d. neutest. Lexicogr. p. 5 ff. Comp in Polyb. xxxii. 6. 5, xl. 6. 2; Arrian. Epict. iii. 2. 14.
[2064] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[2065] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[2066] n loc. refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1986
A DESCRIPTION OF CHARITY
1Co 13:4-7. 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.
OF all the subjects proposed to us in the Holy Scriptures, there is not one that deserves a deeper attention than that before us. If only we consider what is said of charity in the preceding verses, and reflect on the indispensable necessity of it to our acceptance with God, we shall be led to inquire diligently into its characteristic features, and its inseparable properties: we shall not satisfy ourselves with any specious appearances, or outward acts; but shall examine, whether, and how far, this divine principle exists in our hearts. To assist you in this inquiry, we shall enter minutely into the description here given of it; and endeavour to hold up a mirror, in which every one may behold his own face. It is but too common, when subjects of this kind are discussed, to apply them to others, rather than ourselves: but, if we would hear with profit, we must think of ourselves only; and implore of God the influences of his Spirit, that the word may come, not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, to our souls.
There are here no less than fifteen particulars by which the principle of charity is distinguished. But we apprehend, that the two first are designed to give a general view of the subject; and that those which follow are the particulars comprehended under it.
The suffering patiently all kinds of evil, and doing cheerfully all kinds of good, are the constituent parts of true charity: and these are expressed by those two words, Charity suffereth long, and is kind: and St. Paul elsewhere sums up the whole of charity in these two things; Be not overcome of evil; but overcome evil with good [Note: Rom 12:21.].
In fact, it is by these two terms that charity is depicted as existing and operating in the bosom of God himself: Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Here the words goodness and long-suffering are, in the original, the very same with those in the beginning of our text, Charity suffereth long, and is kind: from whence we may see that charity in us is of the same nature with charity in God; or, in other words, that it is a conformity of heart to God, whose name and character is love [Note: 1Jn 4:16.].
It is yet further observable, that there is, in the original, a marked difference between the mode in which the general view of the subject is stated, and the particular parts of it are enumerated; there being no copulative to connect the verbs. This distinction is marked also very properly in our translation; the copulative and being put in italics, to shew that it is not to be found in the original.
This view of the text removes all appearances of tautology, and opens an easy way for the discussion of it.
Descending thus to the consideration of the different particulars, we notice, that there is a marked difference also in the statement of them, in the former part, as compared with the latter part; the former consisting wholly of negations; and the latter, of affirmations: and thus presenting to our view,
I.
The evils it excludes
These may fitly be distributed under five heads:
1.
Envy: Charity envieth not
[Envy is a repining at anothers prosperity, or good, which we ourselves desire to possess: and it is a principle deeply rooted in our fallen nature, insomuch that it may be seen to operate with great force even in children at the breast; so true is that testimony of the Apostle, The spirit that dwelleth in us, lusteth to envy [Note: Jam 4:5.]. But how contrary is this to true charity! Can we conceive a mother to envy her own child any perfection it possessed, or any benefit that has been conferred upon it? or if there were such a mother, would she not, by the common consent of all men, be thought an unnatural monster, rather than a loving parent? Real love would lead her to rejoice in all the good that accrued to her child, though she herself were not a partaker of it: and this is the invariable operation of love, wherever it exists. Know then, that, whatever distinctions or benefits any other person may attain, whilst we ourselves have failed in the pursuit of them, we should feel only pleasure in his success; and if we grudge it him, and are disposed to detract from his merits, and to reduce him to a level with ourselves, we are actuated by the hateful principle of envy, and, in that instance at least, are destitute of the sublimer principle of love.]
2.
Pride: Charity vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly
[These three may properly be classed under the head of pride. The word which is translated vaunteth not itself, is in the margin translated. is not rash: and this perhaps is somewhat nearer to the original; which imports, that charity is not inconsiderate, insolent, and over-bearing. This is nearly allied with a conceit of ones own attainment, and naturally leads to a violation of all that respect which is due to age, and station, and legitimate authority.
Yet to what an extent do these evils exist! how headstrong, how self-opinionated, how presumptuous are youth in general, especially where they can give vent to their dispositions without restraint! But love is modest, sober, temperate: it pays a just deference to the sentiments of others; and willingly submits to the dictates of maturer age, and riper judgment.
If then we speak and act without a due consideration of what others may think, or a proper regard to what others may feel, or in any way that does not befit our age, our rank, our character, we violate the duties of charity; which teaches us to esteem others better than ourselves [Note: Php 2:3.], and to guard with all possible care against every thing that may give just offence [Note: 1Co 10:32.], or weaken the influence of our exertions for the good of others. In a word, real charity will lead us to prefer others in honour before ourselves [Note: Rom 12:10.], and to take on all occasions the lowest place [Note: Luk 14:10.].]
3.
Selfishness: Charity seeketh not her own
[Throughout the whole of this description, the Apostle seems to have had in his eye some of those particular evils which abounded in the Church at Corinth. This more especially he had occasion to reprove, both in the preceding and subsequent context. Many of them were possessed of gifts, which they used chiefly for the advancement of their own honour, when they should have improved them solely for the Churchs good. And this disposition fearfully predominates in our fallen nature; All men seek their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ [Note: Php 2:21.]. But true charity triumphs over all these narrow and contracted feelings: it teaches us not to seek our own ease, honour, and profit, but in entire subserviency to the good of others [Note: 1Co 10:33.]; and to become the servants of all for Christs sake [Note: 1Co 9:19.], sacrificing our just rights [Note: 1Co 9:15.], abridging our unquestionable liberty [Note: 1Co 8:13.], and accommodating ourselves either to the wishes or the prejudice of others [Note: Act 16:3; Act 21:26.], for the better promotion of their welfare. This is charity: but whereinsoever self predominates, so as to turn us from this blessed path, we are destitute of that heavenly principle, whose direction is, Let no man seek his own, but every man anothers wealth [Note: 1Co 10:24 and Php 2:4.].]
4.
Wrath: Charity is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil
[It not unfrequently happens in a family, that, in the estimation of him who is at the head of it, one member can do nothing that is good; and another member, nothing that is wrong. But whence arises this? Is it that the one is so perfect as never to err; and the other so depraved, as never to do right? No: the actions of the two are seen through a different medium; the one through the medium of prejudice, and the other of love. Now such a measure of partiality as can find no fault, is far from being desirable; nor is it any part of true charity. But charity keeps us from breaking forth into wrath against an offending brother; and suffers us not to impute evil intentions to him, to aggravate his offence. Where there is a continual disposition to find fault, and a readiness to fly out into a rage on trifling occasions,where there is a proneness to put an unkind construction on every thing, and to judge persons with severity,there is no charity. Let us but observe how ready we are to find excuses for any one we greatly love, or even for a favourite animal that has committed a fault, and we shall see immediately what would be our conduct towards our brethren, if we had real love to them in our hearts. How ingenious are we in finding excuses for ourselves, when we have done any thing amiss! and if self-love operate so towards ourselves, would not the love of our brethren prescribe somewhat of a similar measure towards them? Yes assuredly: we should be slow to wrath, as we find we are, comparatively at least, towards those whom we love; and ready to extenuate, rather than aggravate, what we cannot fully approve.]
5.
Malice: Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth
[To find pleasure in the fall or disgrace of another is the very essence of malice, the counterpart of Satan himself. Yet how universally prevalent is this malignant disposition! Has any person, especially one whom we have regarded as a superior or a rival, done any thing whereby he has lowered himself in the estimation of mankind? with what pleasure do we listen to the tale! what gratification do we feel in circulating the report! and what a satisfaction do we take, even whilst we profess to pity him, in the fall and degradation of our brother! If afterwards we find that the report was not true, or that there were circumstances which materially altered the real character of the action, do we feel the same pleasure in having our own judgment rectified, and in rectifying the misapprehensions of others? No: there is not the same gratification to our corrupt nature in believing and circulating the one, as in crediting and spreading the other: and therefore, whilst we are ready enough to propagate the evil, we leave truth to find its way as it can. But this is not the way in which love will shew itself: charity finds no pleasure in that which causes pain to another, or dishonour to God: but it is delighted with every thing which may tend to the advancement of Gods honour and our brethrens good.]
In this copious description of charity, we see yet further,
II.
The habits it keeps in exercise
1.
It beareth, or, as the word rather means, covereth, all things
[Where love does not exist, there will be a readiness to spy out evil, and to spread the report of it far and wide: but where it reigns, there will be a disposition rather to cast a veil over our brothers faults, yea and over his sins too; according as it is written, Charity will cover a multitude of sins [Note: 1Pe 4:8.]. Where the revealing of what we know is necessary for the maintenance of public justice, there love to the community will supersede the obligation of which we are now speaking: but where no necessity exists for exposing the shame of our brother, we ought as far as possible to conceal it, and to cast over it the mantle of love. This is what a man does towards those with whom he stands most intimately connected by the ties of consanguinity or friendship: and he will deal the same measure to all, in proportion as the general principle of Christian charity prevails in his soul.]
2.
It believeth all things
[This must of course be restricted to good: for to believe hastily all manner of evil would be directly contrary to love. In the things which we either see or hear, there must of necessity be a great deal which cannot come under our observation. Acts are visible; but the motives which lead to them are hid from us. Results too may be visible; but all the circumstances that led to them, and the precise manner in which they were brought about, may be very imperfectly known by us: and yet on these depends the innocence or criminality of the persons engaged in them. Now charity will not judge from outward appearances, or from partial information; but will suppose and believe that there are many things connected with the event, which, if fully known, would in some measure, if not altogether, justify the person condemned. In our courts of law, the judge always considers himself as, in some degree, counsel for the person accused. Now this is what we should all be, in our daily conduct: a person accused is, as it were, brought to our bar for trial: and, instead of pronouncing a sentence of condemnation upon him instantly on the statement of his accuser, we should suspend our judgment till we know what he has to say in vindication of himself: and if we are not likely to gain that fuller information, we should take for granted that there are some circumstances, though unknown to us, that would give a different colour to the transaction, and constrain us to give a sentence in his favour.]
3.
It hopeth all things
[The reports we hear may be so full and circumstantial, and be corroborated by such a weight of evidence, that we can scarcely withhold our assent to the statement. Yet, if we cannot altogether believe that the accused person is less guilty than he is represented, we should hope it. We should not so definitively pass judgment on him, as if it were impossible for us to err; or as if more perfect information might not give us a more favourable view of his conduct. If we are compelled to condemn him for an evil act, we should hope that the act was not formed into a habit: or, if we are constrained to lament that his iniquities are become a habit, still we should hope that he is not altogether incorrigible; we should not despair of seeing a change in his favour, or give him over as altogether reprobate. This is the way in which a loving parent acts towards his son; and it is the way in which we should act towards all the human race: we should believe, where we cannot see; and hope, where we cannot believe; and cherish desire, where we can scarcely entertain a hope.]
4.
It endureth all things
[Much will we bear from a beloved object, many unkindnesses, and many injuries: and, especially if we have a prospect of ultimately benefiting his soul, we can bear up under his ill treatment with much long-suffering and forbearance. This at least is the proper effect of love; as we see in St. Paul, who says, I endure all things for the elects sake, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is not a slight provocation or two that love will overlook, but a long-continuance of provocations: it will forgive, not once, or seven times, but seventy times seven. It will continue to bless even the man that loads us with curses, and to accumulate benefits on him who seeks only to do us evil. It so endures evil, as not to be overcome by it; and makes such returns for it, as to overcome it with good. Its great aim is, so to heap coals of fire on the head of an adversary, as to melt him into love. In this consists the triumphs of the God of love; and in this will every one who is born of God endeavour to resemble his heavenly Father.]
Hence we may see,
1.
How different is true religion from what men generally apprehend!
[Far be it from us to undervalue gifts of any kind, especially of those which have a favourable aspect on religion: and still less would we speak lightly of those alternations of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow, which many experience in their religious course. But still we must say, that vital religion is different from them all, as a building is from the scaffold that is used for its erection. Religion is a conformity to the Divine image: religion is the law of God written in the heart: religion is love; love in all its bearings, and in all its exercises. Happy would it be if this matter were better understood by those who profess religion: but, with too many, religion has its seat in the ear and in the tongue, rather than in the heart; and operates rather in a way of conceit and talkativeness, and uncharitable censures of those who differ from us, than in meekness and modesty, benevolence and beneficence, forbearance and forgiveness. But let no man deceive himself: just so much as we have of real, active, and habitual charity, so much we have of true religion, and no more.]
2.
How little is there of true religion in the world!
[Look into the world, and see what are the dispositions and habits of all around us: what do we see, but pride and envy, wrath and malice, self-seeking and self-indulgence? The whole world is full of uncharitableness: nothing is to be seen or heard but mutual censures and bitter animosities. The real actings of love are as little prevalent, I had almost said, as in hell itself. The laws of the land, and the habits of society, keep many from those violent breaches of charity which would disturb the public peace: but their secret heart-burnings, towards those who have injured or insulted them, shew sufficiently how little there is of true charity in their hearts.
Would to God that this were not the case also in the Church of God! But it is a lamentable truth, that in Christian societies there is much of this unkind feeling in one towards another; brethren alienated from each other by some trifling differences, and even harder to be reconciled to each other than the ungodly world. O tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon, lest the uncircumcised triumph. But let professors look well to this matter: for they shall be judged, not by their profession, but by their practice: and, however eminent they may be in the estimation of men, they will receive their doom from God, according to the actings of this principle in their hearts and lives.]
3.
How thankful should we be for the rich provisions of the Gospel!
[Who amongst us could stand, if we were to be justified only by our obedience to this law? Who would venture his salvation upon it, even for one single day? Alas! in many things we all offend: there is not a human being who does not come very short of the requirements of perfect charity. We need then, all of us, to wash in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness; and to seek an interest in that Saviour, who alone fulfilled the law in all its full extent.
Nor can we obey this law at all, any farther than we are assisted by divine grace. We need the influences of the Holy Spirit, to mortify and subdue the risings of uncharitableness within us. Whatever we may have attained, the flesh still lusteth against the Spirit, so that we cannot do the things that we would. But, blessed be God! the Holy Spirit is promised unto all who desire his gracious influences, and his operation shall be effectual for the ends and purposes for which he is given.
Whilst then we strive to be holy as God is holy, let us seek all our help from above, and live by faith on the Son of God, who hath loved us, and given himself for us.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(4) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, (5) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; (6) Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; (7) Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
The Apostle having in the preceding verses spoken so highly of charity, in general terms; now begins to describe the special instances of this Christian grace, somewhat more particularly. If the Reader will number the several very sweet, and striking qualities, Paul hath noted down, of charity , he will discover, that there are no less than sixteen peculiarities, in commendation of it, which he hath enumerated. And, indeed, such a lovely principle, and flowing from such a source, may well be supposed, as diffusing itself in various streams, everywhere around.
I beg the Reader to observe also, how much the Apostle hath heightened the representation, by personifying charity under those several features of character. It seems all along, as if Paul is speaking of a person, and not simply of this grace given to a person. And is it a violence to this scripture, or will it be thought imaginary, if I were to say, might not Paul have his Lord in view all along, as he drew the portrait? Of whom but Jesus, can it be strictly said : seeketh not her own, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things! Surely, none but Jesus, comes up to this character! Yes! thou Almighty burden-bearer; of thee, and thee alone, can it be truly said : Thou hast borne our sins, and carried our sorrows. Even now, thou art bearing the cares of all thy Church, and the persons of all thy people. And while, through all the present time-state of thy redeemed, thou art bearing all in the arms of thy love; shortly, when this time-state is over, thou wilt bear them everyone home to thine eternal glory.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Ver. 4. And is kind ] , or, is easy to be made use of, ready to any good office. Charity is no churl.
Vaunteth not itself ] With the scorn of others. Arrianus saith, that he is , that blameth others and is restless in himself. Such a one was Timon of old and Laurentius Valla of late.
Is not puffed up ] Hence charity is portrayed as a naked child with a merry countenance, covered in a cloud, with a bloody heart in the right hand, giving honey to a bee without wings.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 7. ] The blessed attributes of love .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
4. ] is the negative side, the positive, of a loving temper: the former, the withholding of anger; the latter, the exercise of kindness.
, ‘ knows neither envy nor jealousy :’ both are included under the more general sense of .
] The word occurs in Cicero ad Attic. i. 14: ‘Di boni! quomodo novo auditori Pompeio!’ and Marc [59] Antonin. 1Co 13:5 ; , , . . Among the examples in Wetst. of and , is a good definition from Basil: ; , . And the Etymol. Mag., , , , . The nearest English expression would perhaps be displays not itself . See Wetst.
[59] Marcus Monachus, 390
., see, for a contrast, ch. 1Co 8:1 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 13:4-13 . 43. THE QUALITIES OF CHRISTIAN LOVE. The previous vv. have justified the of 1Co 12:31 . The loftiest human faculties of man are seen to be frustrate without love; by its aid alone are they brought to their proper excellence and just use. But this “way” of Christian attainment has still to be “described,” and the promise of 1Co 12:31 b fulfilled. So while 1Co 13:1-3 have proved the necessity , the rest of the chap. shows the nature and working of the indispensable . The Cor [1981] may see in this description the mirror of what they ought to be and are not; they will learn how childish are the superiorities on which they plume themselves. ( a ) The behaviour of Love is delineated in fifteen exquisite aphorisms (1Co 13:4-7 ); ( b ) its permanence , in contrast with the transitory and partial character of the prized (1Co 13:8-13 ).
[1981] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Co 13:4-7 . In 1Co 13:1-3 Paul’s utterance began to rise with the elevation of his theme into the Hebraic rhythm (observe the recurrent , and the repeated ) which marks his more impassioned passages (see e.g ., Rom 8:31 ff., Eph 1:8 ff.; on a smaller scale, 1Co 3:22 f. above). Here this rhythm dominates the structure of his sentences: they run in seven couplets, arranged as one (affirm.), four (neg.), and two (aff.) verse-lines, with the subject ( ) repeated at the head of the 2nd line. The ver. which closes the middle, longer movement becomes a triplet, making a pause in the chant by the antithetical repetition of the second clause. The par. then reads as follows:
“Love suffers long, shows kindness.
Love envies not, makes no self-display;
Is not puffed up, behaves not unseemly;
Seeks not her advantage, is not embittered;
Imputes not evil, rejoices not at wrong.
but shares in the joy of the truth.
All things she tolerates, all things she believes;
All things she hopes for, all things she endures.”
The first line supples the general theme, defining the two fundamental excellencies of Love her patience towards evil, and kindly activity in good. In the negative movement, the first half-lines set forth Love’s attitude free from jealousy, arrogance ( cf. 1Co 4:6 b ), avarice, grudge-bearing; while the second member in each case sets forth her temper modest, refined in feeling, placable, having her joy in goodness. The third movement reverts to the opening note, on which it descants. For the individual words: is to be long-tempered ( longanimis est , Er [1982] ) a characteristic of God (Rom 2:4 , etc.) patient towards injurious or provoking persons ; this includes , , ; whereas , closing the list, signifies patience in respect of adverse and afflictive circumstances ; the two unite in Col 1:11 : see Trench, Syn ., liii. a vb [1983] perhaps of Paul’s coining plays the part of a ( benignus ), one who renders gracious, well-disposed service to others (Trench, Syn ., lxiii): P. associates and repeatedly (see parls.). qualifies the of 1Co 12:31 : directed towards right objects , is laudable ambition; directed towards persons , it is base envy; desire for excellencies manifest in others should stimulate not ill-will but admiring love. The vb [1984] (parl [1985] in form to ) occurs only in Marc. Anton., v., 5 besides, where it is rendered ostentare se (the Vg [1986] perperam se agit rests on mistaken resemblance) to show oneself off : , used by Polybius and Epictetus, signifies braggart, boastful (see Gm [1987] , s.v .), its sense here. He who is envious ( .) of superiority in others is commonly ostentatious ( .) of superiority assumed in himself, and arrogant ( .) towards inferiors. Such is a mark of bad taste a moral indecency , from which Love is clear ( : see parls.); she has the instinct for the seemly; Love imparts a delicacy of feeling beyond the rules of politeness. The absence of pride is the burden of the two former of the negative couplets, the absence of greed of the two latter. For . . ., cf. parls.; 2Co 12:13 ff. supplies a fine illustration in the writer. Selfishness generates the irritability denied concerning Love in ; intent on one’s own advantage, one is incessantly angered to find the world at cross purposes with him. Except Heb 10:24 , the only other N.T. parls. (Act 15:39 ; Act 17:16 ) ascribe to P. himself the which he now condemns; as in the case of (see 1Co 3:3 ), there is a bad and a good exasperation ; anger may be holy, though commonly a sin. To “rejoice at iniquity,” when seeing it in others, is a sign of deep debasement (Rom 1:32 ); Love, on the contrary, finds her joy in the joy of “the Truth” (personified: cf. Rom 7:22 , Psa 85:10 f., 3Jn 1:8 ; 3Jn 1:12 ) she rejoices in the progress and vindication of the Gospel, which is “the truth” of God ( cf. Phi 1:7 , Col 1:3-6 ; 3Jn 1:4 ): and are similarly contrasted in 2Th 2:10 ; 2Th 2:12 . The four clauses form a chiasmus: the first and fourth relating to the bearing of ill, the second and third to expectation of good in others; the first pair belong to the present, the last to the future. For , see parls.; Bz [1988] and a few others render the clause “omnia tegit ,” in accordance with the radical sense of the vb [1989] ; but suffert (Vg [1990] ) is its Pauline, and also prevalent cl [1991] sense. appears to bear in Gal 5:22 the meaning of faith in men belonging to here. Hope animates and is nourished by endurance : ( sustinet , not patitur ), the active patience of the stout-hearted soldier; see Trench, Syn ., liii., and N.T. parls.
[1982] Erasmus’ In N.T. Annotationes .
[1983] verb
[1984] verb
[1985] parallel.
[1986] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[1987] Grimm-Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T.
[1988]
[1989] verb
[1990] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[1991] classical.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 13:4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1Co 13:4-7 This may have been a hymn or poem about love, written or quoted by Paul. All of these descriptions of love are active. Love is an action, not simply an emotion. These all describe the ministry of Jesus (the full and complete revelation of YHWH) as He dealt with imperfect people. Love is a person!
1Co 13:4 “patient” This verb (present active indicative) has the connotation of patience with people (cf. Pro 19:11; 1Th 5:14; Jas 5:7-8; 2Pe 3:9) who act unjustly toward us, without retaliation. This is one of the fruits of the Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22). It is a characteristic of God (cf. Rom 2:4; Rom 9:22; 1Ti 1:16; 1Pe 3:20). It (the noun) should characterize new age believers, indwelt by God’s Spirit (cf. 2Co 6:6; Col 1:11).
“kind” This verb is found only here and is also a people-focused term. It implies “be gentle to all.” Peter also uses the same term for Jesus in 1Pe 2:3. It is also one of the gifts of the Spirit in Gal 5:22.
“not jealous” This describes a strong desire, literally “to boil.” Love does not desire for itself the possessions of or control over people.
“not brag” This rare term refers to a self-flattering person who is seen by others as a braggart or windbag. It was often related to intellectual or rhetorical pride or boasting in Greek literature.
“not arrogant” This term refers to those who overestimate and flaunt themselves. It is used often in 1 Corinthians (1Co 4:6; 1Co 4:18-19; 1Co 5:2; 1Co 8:1) and here. It truly reflects the character of this church. See note at 1Co 4:6.
1Co 13:5 “act unbecomingly” This is not an easy term to define. It is used in 1Co 7:36 in a more positive sense. Here its connotation is negative. The term was used in the Egyptian papyri implying a cursing or oath-taking connected with a violent or inappropriate act (cf. 1Co 12:3). It connotes rudeness instead of graciousness.
“does not seek its own” This is an oft repeated truth (cf. 1Co 8:9; 1Co 10:24; 1Co 10:33; Rom 14:16; Php 2:3). This may be theologically related to Eph 5:21, being submissive to one another out of respect for Christ.
“not provoked” This term is literally “to sharpen.” It is used metaphorically to “stir up.” It can be positive as in Act 17:16 or negative, as here. The Phillips translation has “is not touchy,” used in the sense of “not easily irritated or angered.” This noun is used of Paul and Barnabas’ fight over John Mark (cf. Act 15:39).
NASB”does not take into account a wrong suffered”
NKJV”thinks no evil”
NRSV”or resentful”
TEV”does not keep a record of wrongs”
NJB”does not store up grievances”
This is an accounting term for the ledger of unpaid bills (cf. 2Co 3:5; 2Co 12:6). It refers to someone who harbors a vengeful spirit. An example might be Act 15:36-41 and 2Ti 4:11 over John Mark.
It is possible that this is an allusion to the Septuagint’s translation of Zec 8:17 “and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbor.” However, since the surrounding phrases are not OT allusions, it weakens the possibility that this one is.
1Co 13:6 This is both a negative and positive statement of truth. In this context it may refer to gossip within the Christian community. It is unusual that the term “unrighteousness” is contrasted with “truth.” Probably “unrighteousness” is the opposite of “right living” and “truth” refers to the gospel message.
“with the truth” See Special Topic at 2Co 13:8.
1Co 13:7 “bears all things” The term “all things” (i.e., panta) is fronted four times in this verse for emphasis. Love is inclusive. “All things” is used in the sense of “at all times” (i.e., all four verbs are present tense) and “on all occasions.”
The term “bear” is from the Greek word for “roof” (cf. Mat 8:8). It is metaphorical for (1) covering (cf. 1Pe 4:8, different term, but same concept) or (2) putting up with (cf. 1Co 12:9; 1Th 3:1; 1Th 3:5). The Moffat translation has “slow to expose.”
“believes all things” In this context this implies “sees the best in others” or “gives a fellow Christian the benefit of the doubt.” It always keeps the faith (cf. Gal 5:22).
“hopes all things” In this context love holds out hope of a fellow believer’s eventual development in the faith. It does not despair.
“endures all things” This is a strong term for enduring temptation and testing (cf. Mat 10:22; Mat 24:13; Heb 10:32; Jas 1:12). Here it speaks of voluntary, steadfast endurance. This phrase emphasizes no personal retaliation or rejection, but steadfast perseverance, especially with people.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
is kind. Greek. chresteuomai. Only here. Compare App-184. Note the Figure of speech Asyndeton in these verses: 1Co 13:13, 1Co 13:4-8.
envieth. Greek. zeloo. See Act 7:9.
vaunteth. Greek. perpereuomai. Only here.
is . . . puffed up. See 1Co 4:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4-7.] The blessed attributes of love.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 13:4. , love) He points out the nature of love. He does not say, love speaks with tongues, prophesies, gives to the poor: but it is long-suffering. This is a metonymy for the man, who has love. But Paul chiefly mentions those fruits of love, necessary in the use of the gifts, which he requires from the Corinthians, and without which there may be prophecies, but there can be no profit. If we take 1Co 8:1, we may advantageously compare together the delineation of love which Paul adapted to the Corinthians, and the delineation of wisdom, which James in like manner adapted to [portrayed for] those to whom he wrote, Jam 3:17.-, suffers long) The twelve praises of love are enumerated by three classes, 1Co 13:4-7-(if we reckon together one pair at the beginning, and two pairs at the end, as we show in the following notes). The first consists of two members, (1.) it suffers long, is kind: (2.) envies not. We have the same synthesis and antithesis, Gal 5:22; Gal 5:20. Long-suffering has respect to evil proceeding from others: kind has respect to the extending of good to others; on the other hand, it does not grieve at anothers good, nor rejoice at anothers calamity. The conjunction is wanting to is kind [Asyndeton].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 13:4
1Co 13:4
Love suffereth long,-This longsuffering is the protracted endurance of wrong, such as is fitted to provoke resentment. [It is that command over natural impulse which keeps just displeasure from breaking forth into action. Moses had more of this than any other in his day, yet to his cost he once failed in it. Indeed, Jesus Christ was the only one who possessed it in the fullest sense: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. (1Pe 2:23; see also Col 3:12-13).
and is kind;-It is kind to those who do evil. [It is good- natured, gentle, tender, affectionate. It is not sour, harsh, morose, ill-natured. It is active in doing good things to as many as possible, moved by the conviction: I shall pass through this world but once, any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now, let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again.]
love envieth not;-[Envy is chagrin, mortification, discontent, or uneasiness at the sight of anothers excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and a desire to possess equal advantages; malicious grudging. Love does not envy the happiness and prosperity others enjoy; but delights in their welfare, and as their happiness is increased by their endowments, their reputation, their health, their domestic comforts, and their learning, it rejoices in it all and would not diminish it, and would not detract from that happiness.] love vaunteth not itself,-It does not thrust itself forward, nor take the highest seats in the synagogue. [Does not ostentatiously parade its superiority to others, whether real or supposed, priding itself on it. This quality is the exact opposite of envy; the one envying in another what is not possessed by ourselves, the other looking down on another for the want of something which we possess.]
is not puffed up,-[It does not indulge in inflated opinions of itself; the words imply an instinctive aversion from all false glitter, pompous bluster, strutting in borrowed plumes, from extravagant words, looks, tones, styles, in short, a deep hatred of seeming to be more than one is.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
charity
That is, love; and so in (1Co 13:2); (1Co 13:3); (1Co 13:4); (1Co 13:8); (1Co 13:13).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
suffereth: Pro 10:12, 2Co 6:6, Gal 5:22, Eph 4:2, Col 1:11, Col 3:12, 2Ti 2:25, 2Ti 3:10, 2Ti 4:2, Jam 3:17, 1Pe 4:8
is kind: Neh 9:17, Pro 19:22, Pro 31:20, Pro 31:26, Luk 6:35, Luk 6:36, Eph 4:32, Col 3:12, 1Pe 3:8, 2Pe 1:7, 1Jo 3:16-18, 1Jo 4:11
envieth: 1Co 3:3, Gen 30:1, Gen 37:11, Mat 27:18, Rom 1:29, Rom 13:13, 2Co 12:20, Gal 5:21, Gal 5:26, Phi 1:15, 1Ti 6:4, Tit 3:3, Jam 3:14-16, Jam 4:5, 1Pe 2:1
vaunteth not itself: or, is not rash, 1Sa 25:21, 1Sa 25:22, 1Sa 25:33, 1Sa 25:34, 1Ki 20:10, 1Ki 20:11, Psa 10:5, Pro 13:10, Pro 17:14, Pro 25:8-10, Ecc 7:8, Ecc 7:9, Ecc 10:4, Dan 3:19-22
is not: 1Co 4:6, 1Co 4:18, 1Co 5:2, 1Co 8:1, Col 2:18, Phi 2:1-5
Reciprocal: Gen 16:4 – her mistress Num 11:29 – Enviest Jdg 8:2 – What Rth 3:10 – Blessed Pro 14:29 – slow Mat 5:44 – General Mat 20:24 – they Mar 12:31 – Thou Luk 6:37 – forgive Luk 17:4 – if Luk 22:24 – General Joh 13:34 – That ye love Rom 12:17 – Provide Rom 13:10 – worketh Rom 14:15 – now 1Co 13:7 – Beareth 1Co 14:5 – would Gal 5:13 – but Eph 4:16 – edifying Phi 2:4 – General Phi 4:8 – whatsoever 1Th 1:3 – and labour 1Th 5:14 – be Heb 6:10 – work 1Jo 3:18 – let
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CHRISTIAN LOVE
Charity suffereth long endureth all things.
1Co 13:4-7
It is indeed the occasion of astonishment that in the face of this chapter theology should ever have imagined that there was antagonism between St. Paul and the other sacred writer who teaches that faith is dead apart from works.
In the early verses, 13, the Apostle contrasts love with various other attributes which combine to form character. And then in these he proceeds to analyse the quality itself somewhat minutely, and finally in those which follow (1Co 13:8-13) he extols it as the crowning glory of grace.
I. Love will show itself to be in its essence that which we speak of as charitable.Love suffereth long and is kind. That is to say, it is patient, not in a hurry or easily put out, strongly calm, able to wait, because it understands and sympathises. Kind not only in spirit, but in fact. The original term thus rendered is derived from another word meaning useful. Love is always devising plans for helping others. There are no drones in loves hive.
II. The Apostle then mentions seven respects in which bad features, spoiling the characters of all of us, are absent from love.
(a) Love envieth not. She has a large and generous soul, giving no place to those mean and unworthy moods which so often bring bitterness to the life and take away its peace. Whenever you attempt any good work, you will find others doing quite as well, and better, on exactly the same lines. Love finds herself able without affectation heartily to delight therein.
(b) Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. This is the same thing regarded from two different standpoints: from the outside and from within. Vaunteth not itself, makes no display, does not show off. Is not puffed up, does not swell out with a sense of its own importance. We have here humility on its negative side. True love shrinks instinctively from all false glitter, from exaggeration and self-satisfaction. It prefers to retreat into the shade. It never ever thinks, How admirable and how good I am! It is not self-occupied.
(c) Love doth not behave itself unseemly. See it as it goes out into society. There is not a trace of bad breeding. Vulgarity is so full of itself that it cannot love. So far from its being true that manners make the man, it is man that makes the manners. Natures gentleman is the child of love. It was Carlyle who said there was no truer gentleman in Europe than the ploughman poet. There is no brusqueness in love.
(d) Love seeketh not her own. That is, she acts and speaks from disinterestedness of motive. Self is in no respect her centre. She has learnt that it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is not so hard every now and then to give up our rights, especially if we get some credit thereby; but it is hard habitually to ignore ourselves, and what gives us gratification. The reason is because we love so little. Love is never self-seeking.
(e) Nor is she easily provoked. The Revised Version leaves out the easily, and rightly so. Love never flies into a rage, never says bitter things, nor feels bitterly. It is not in her to do so; she always keeps the rising temper under control, and is always sorrowful to discern it in others. Let us never look upon ebullition of anger as a harmless weakness, as a mere infirmity of nature. Its presence betrays the absence of love, a disposition uncontrolled by the God of love. Souls are made sweet not by taking the acids out, but by letting something else in. Only let that mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, and His love will leave no room for bad temper and bitterness.
(f) Love taketh no account of evil. That is the revised translation. Keeps no diary of wrong suffered, instinctively forgets as soon as possible, allows the unpleasantness to glance off unrecorded, putting a charitable interpretation on the actions of others, imputing no evil because it suspects none.
(g) Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth, as the margin and the text of the Revised Version have it. The reason why love finds no pleasure in any sort of wrongdoing is because it sets itself to be a cherisher of all that is morally beautiful and true. Thus iniquity melts away under the genial warmth of heaven-born affection.
III. The third group of ideas in St. Pauls analysis of love shows us how she manages to accommodate herself to her environment, especially when it is not altogether congenial.
(a) Beareth all things. The margin of the Revised Version substitutes covereth. The Greek word so rendered means properly either to keep in, as a cup retains what is poured into it, or keep out, as the roof keeps out rain. The foundation idea is power to resist all adverse forces, whether the pressure comes from within or from without. It might be rendered is proof in all things, that is, especially against everything which is calculated to disturb the health of the soul. As faith is the shield in which the Christian catches the shafts of the evil one, so love is the mysterious coat of mail hidden out of sight which will make him absolutely invulnerable, an essential ingredient of that peace which passes all understanding.
(b) Believeth all thingsnot the credulity of inexperience, but the guilelessness of a single mind, that innocency which instinctively puts the best interpretation on the mistakes and sins of other people.
(c) Hopeth all things. Though herself greater than hope, love delights in her friends cheerful companionship. Her very presence clears the sky; she bears a brightness in her face, like Moses of old, even when she pities most. Thus she finds her way to the despairing, and assures them that there is pity with God, and that effectual pity which is ever waiting to minister help. So despair flees before love into the world of darkness which is her proper home. Love, being always sanguine herself, seeks to infuse others with her own cheerfulness.
(d) Endureth all things. Thus the Apostle, before we notice it, brings us back to the thought with which he started. Having taken us round the whole radius of the circle and shown us all the principal excellences of this chiefest of Christian graces, he assures us, in conclusion, that love is the source of true fortitude. The word endureth is properly a military term, and suggests that love supplies the Christian soldier with that which will enable him to bear the brunt of the assaults of the enemy. Hence it is used in the New Testament to express the idea of withstanding attack. For example, 2Ti 2:10, I endure all things for the elects sakes; Heb 10:32, Ye endured a great fight of afflictions, a great conflict of sufferings (R. V.). Just so in Heb 12:2, Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, endured the cross, bracing Himself, as it were, against all that was so intensely distressing and painful.
Rev. J. A. Faithfull.
Illustration
O love that casts out fear,
O love that casts out sin,
Tarry no more without,
But come and dwell within.
True sunlight of the soul,
Surround me as I go;
So shall my way be safe,
My feet no straying know.
Great love of God, come in,
Well-spring of heavenly peace;
Thou Living Water, come,
Spring up and never cease.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1Co 13:4. This and a number of verses following will show some things that charity (or love) will do, and also what it will not do. Suffereth tong means it will cause a man to be patient and kind. Envieth not denotes that one man will not be grieved because some other one has a gift that he does not have. This teaching especially was needed by many of the Corinthians, because they were contending over the respective gifts of each other. To vaunt means to make a vain display, and it would be caused by being puffed up.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 13:4. Love suffereth long. This long-suffering is the protracted endurance of wrong, such as is fitted to provoke resentment. It is that command over natural impulse which keeps just displeasure from breaking forth into action. This is one of Jehovahs most conspicuous names: The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering(Exo 34:6); slow to anger (Psa 103:8). Moses had more of this than any other of his day, yet to his cost he once failed in it. Indeed, of One only could it be said in the fullest sense, When He was reviled, He reviled not again (see Col 3:12-13).
and is kind. The word means to shew oneself benignant, gentle, good, meek. Though used only here as a verb, it occurs frequently as an adjective, and precisely as it occurs here, in conjunction with long-suffering, the one being the negative, the other the positive side of the same quality; shewing that though there is no conjunction between them in the original, they were intended to go together, and therefore that the Authorised Version has rightly added the connecting and. Thus: The fruit of the Spirit is long-suffering, gentleness (Gal 5:22); By long-suffering, by kindness (2Co 6:6); Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering? (Rom 2:4).
love envieth not. The word signifies both envy and jealousy, qualities which though distinct are inseparable, so that only the context can shew which in any given case is intended. Here envy is plainly meantthat miserable feeling of chagrin at the good of another, not possessed by ourselves, which corrodes the heart, and is the rottenness of the bones (Pro 14:30); that murderous principle of Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother; and wherefore slew he him? because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous (1Jn 3:12; and see Pro 27:4; Act 7:9; Act 17:5).
love vaunteth not itself;[1] is not puffed updoes not ostentatiously parade its superiority to others, whether real or supposed, priding itself on it. Perhaps there is here some allusion to that unseemly display of spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church to which reference is elsewhere made. This quality is exactly the opposite of envy; the one envying in another what is not possessed by ourselves, the other looking down on another for the want of something which we possess. Ahab, though a king, mastered by the hateful passion of envy, throws himself on his bed, turns his face to the wall, and will eat no bread, because Naboth his neighbour will not disobey a Divine commandment by giving up to him the inheritance of his fathers (1Ki 21:3-4). On the other hand, I am better than you (says the whole air of the puffed-up vaunter), for I have this and that which you possess not, Selfishness is at the bottom of both alike, while love sees its own good in the good of another, and anothers in its own.
[1] The word here used occurs here only. It comes from a word which signifies vain boaster.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here the apostle enters upon the description and commendation of the grace and duty of charity, and declares several excellent effects and properties of it; namely, It suffereth long, and is kind; that is, the charitable man is kind to all, patient towards all; he can bear injuries and reproaches very long, without either desiring or endeavouring to revenge them.
It envieth not; that is, he envieth neither the power, nor profit, nor preferment, nor applause, nor precedency, of any man; but is well pleased with the happiness of every man, and laments their misfortunes.
Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; that is, it suppresses all self-applauding and admiring thoughts, all arrogancy in assuming to ourselves, and undervaluing of others.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The Nature of Love
Love will cause one to endure wrong for a long time as Christ did ( 1Pe 2:23 ). Love is good to all. Love is not jealous over another’s good fortune, nor does it seek to impress others with its position and accomplishments. Love is well-mannered toward others. It does not seek to fulfill its own desires. Violent tempers are not the product of loving hearts. Love does not allow grudge holding or keeping record of wrongs committed against oneself.
True love does not feel good because others sin or suffer sin’s consequences. It enjoys the truth’s successes. It would not cover-up for others’ wrongs. It quietly suffers the wrong of others. Love looks for the best in all it sees. It longs for the time the sinful will repent. Love withstands the assaults of evil with patience ( 1Co 13:4-7 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Co 13:4-5. Love suffereth long Here the apostle attributes to love the qualities and actions of a person, in order to render his account of that divine grace the more lively and affecting. The love of God, and of our neighbour for Gods sake, is patient toward all men. It suffers all the weakness, ignorance, errors, and infirmities of the children of God; and all the malice and wickedness of the children of the world; and all this not only for a time, but to the end; and in every step toward overcoming evil with good, it is kind Mild, gentle, benign; inspiring the sufferer at once with the most amiable sweetness, and the most fervent and tender affection. Love envieth not The advantages, gifts, or graces, which others possess, but rather takes pleasure in them, and by friendly participation makes them its own. Love vaunteth not itself Greek, , acteth not rashly, as the expression is translated by many critics, following Phavorinus. Indeed, to render it as our translators do, is to make it signify the same thing with the next clause. The lover of God and mankind does not hastily condemn any one; never passes a severe sentence on a slight or sudden view of things. Nor does he act or behave in a violent, headstrong, or precipitate manner. Is not puffed up With pride or self-conceit on account of any endowments or qualifications, mental or corporal, natural or acquired, civil or religious. On the contrary, love to God, whereby we esteem him as the greatest and best of beings, desire him as our chief good, delight in him as our portion and treasure in time and in eternity, cannot but humble us in the dust before him, while we contrast our various weaknesses, imperfections, and sins, with his infinite excellences and matchless glories, and compare his superlative goodness with our great unworthiness. And the love of our neighbour, naturally leading us to dwell on his virtues, and overlook his defects, must also, though in a lower degree, produce the same effect, and cause us to prefer others to ourselves in a variety of respects. Doth not behave itself unseemly Or indecently, as properly signifies; that is, it is not rude or willingly offensive to any one, but renders to all their dues, suitable to time, place, person, and all other circumstances. Seeketh not her own Ease, pleasure, honour, or temporal advantage. Nay, sometimes the lover of God and of mankind seeketh not, in some sense, even his own spiritual advantage; does not think of himself, so long as a zeal for the glory of God and the souls of men swallows him up. But though he is all on fire for these ends, yet he is not provoked, (the word easily is not in the original,) to sharpness or unkindness toward any one. Outward provocations indeed will frequently occur, but he triumphs over them. Thinketh no evil The loving man indeed cannot but see and hear evil things, and know that they are so; but he does not willingly think evil of any, neither infer evil where none appears. The love in his heart prevents his imagining that of which he has no proof, and casts out all jealousies, evil surmises, readiness to believe evil, and induces him to put the kindest constructions upon the actions of others, and on the principles from whence they proceed, which the nature of circumstances will by any means allow.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vers. 4-7.
The following picture is not drawn at random, and, so to speak, at the good pleasure of the author. It is as closely connected with the state of his readers as the foregoing passage. It is a mirror in which the Church is called to contemplate the humiliating image of what it has become, while it beholds the state which it is called to endeavour to attain. While tracing it, the apostle has two things constantly before his eyes: on the one hand, the figure of Him who realized on earth the ideal of a life of charity; on the other, the remembered sins against charity to which the Corinthians had given way in the exercise of the fair gifts bestowed on their Church, because the use of them had not been subordinated to this cardinal virtue.
The apostle begins with the two essential features which characterize this disposition, the one negative, the other positive.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Love suffereth long, and is kind [In this catalogue the first and last negative qualities are coupled with their corresponding positives, suggesting a like coupling throughout. Love suffers evil and confers blessing, and seeks to thus overcome evil with good– Rom 12:21; Mat 23:37; Luk 22:48; Luk 22:50-51]; love envieth not [Is not jealous of the gifts, goods or fortune of another, nor of his spiritual prosperity, as was Cain (Gen 4:3-8). Love excludes this feeling; the parent does not envy the child (Rev 3:21). Moses was free from envy (Num 11:26-29), and so also was John the Baptist– Joh 3:26-30]; love vaunteth not itself [does not parade itself– Mat 6:1; Act 8:9; Mat 11:29; Mat 12:19; Mat 12:38-39; Mat 21:5], is not puffed up [is not inflated with pride or arrogance, because of wealth, knowledge, power, etc.– Act 12:20-23; Joh 13:1-5],
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
4. Divine love suffereth long, Divine love is kind. When John Wesley was attacked by the mob, which knocked out the lights and stampeded his congregation, and, seizing him, dragged him away into a back alley, and beat him till they thought he was dead, lying there in his blood till day, he composed that beautiful hymn in the Methodist collection, Shall Simon bear the cross alone, and all the world go free? thus beautifully exhibiting this grace of long-suffering accompanied by the beautiful and amiable grace of disinterested kindness. A relative of my dear wife in Kentucky, in her innocent maidenhood captured by an unworthy young man who made a fine show, presenting a noble exterior, but clandestinely loved whisky, entered into wedlock with this man, who proved an awful scourge. Becoming a besotted drunkard, he, instead of providing for his family, was a dead expense on them. Years roll away, and the well-to-do Methodist father loses his patience, saying: Nanny, I am willing to feed you and your children, but I am done feeding that drunkard! You must come away to my house and leave him forever. Poverty and hardship had already been signally blessed in the sanctification of the innocent girl, brought up in a religious home amid peace and plenty. Though unconscious of the fact, she had actually received from the Holy Ghost the gift of faith for the salvation of her husband. Therefore she said, No, father, I love George and feel that the Lord is going to save him, so I can not leave him. The old man stuck to his vow and let them take chances on the starvation line. They are crowded out of town and occupy a cabin in the country which had been built for colored people in slavery time. Wintry winds swept through and the summer heat was unrelieved by a shade-tree. Years roll on, and pinching poverty is walking roughshod over Nanny and her little ones. Brother Rushing, a sanctified circuit-rider, whom I well know, is sent into that country, and begins diligently to hunt up everybody. Having made an appointment for night preaching at the school-house, he calls on them in the afternoon, finding nothing but rags, poverty and misery. He talks to them kindly, inviting them to go to meeting that night. George bluntly drawls out in drunken dialect, I never goes to meeting, while Nanny observes that they have no clothes to wear away from home, and can not go. The preacher has actually come after them, and he holds a tight grip on them, turning a deaf ear to every excuse. He had come after them, so he took them with him to the school-house, having already prevailed in prayer for them. He preaches with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, every moment clinging to Jesus for the poor drunkard. The lightning strikes his heart and he comes to the altar. The people, having no confidence in the poor, hopeless drunkard, go away in disgust. Nanny and the preacher linger on the dirty floor, praying for him till the morning hours supersede the midnight, when the poor victim of the whisky devil lays hold on the Omnipotent hand of the sinners Friend with the grip of a drowning man, thus passing triumphantly into life. Going home, instead of going to bed, he whets his ax by day dawn, and the neighbors are astonished to hear the roar of his ax and the crash of trees all day long, and see his brush burning all night; he clears up the rich valley, first leasing and then purchasing, turns it into a grand meadow, and covers the hills with the waving wheat fields and gigantic corn, giving to everything the aspect of teeming prosperity. He builds a comfortable mansion, the delightful retreat of the Lords weary pilgrims, who there find Christian hospitality. Five years roll away, and he has proven the best steward the Methodist church ever had. Now he says to the quarterly conference: The night the Lord converted me in the school-house He called me to preach, but I said, I am too old and illiterate; excuse me, I will make the best steward I possibly can. Brethren, you know I have done it, but God will not excuse me any longer, I have to preach. So they gave him license, and from that day he has been a powerful local Holiness evangelist, working hard and making a good living, and at the same time preaching the gospel and bringing many to God. All this was because Nanny suffered long and was kind. Love has neither envy, jealousy nor prejudice. I so translate because the Greek word here used by Paul has all of these meanings. This Divine love is free from all malevolent affection, such as envy, jealousy and revenge. You delight in your neighbors prosperity, glad to see him move on ahead of you, as you can climb Jacobs ladder more successfully amid the inspiration of your predecessors. While you are free from all envy, yet you are determined to do your best, and, if possible, outstrip all your comrades. Prejudice is a compound of two Latin words, pre, beforehand, and judis, judgment. Hence it means giving your decision before you hear the evidence. I heard of a judge from the Emerald Isle who always made it a rule to give his verdict when he had heard one side of the evidence, observing that if he waited to hear the other he would not know how to decide. Love is also happily free from all retaliatory feelings; like Jesus, who prayed for his murderers. Does not display itself. This statement sweeps away all needless ornamentation, such as finery and jewelry, pomp and parade for the sake of show. It also knocks off the costly church spires, Gothic domes, frescoed ceilings, and memorial windows, which cost bushels of the Lords money, so much needed to save the poor, perishing heathens. It is not puffed up. Carnality is easily miffed, ready to swell up like a toad if you touch it. When I was a little boy, never cruel enough to hurt anything, but I would touch the toad with a stick to see him swell. He seemed like he would burst. You must have Satans toad sanctified out of you so you will not be fastidious, ready to swell up when you think you are slighted. Does not behave itself unseemly. i. e., indecorously. This Divine love makes you a gentleman or a lady; you need not the devils dancing-master nor the devils fandangoes to teach your children politeness. Get them genuinely converted to God and sweetly sanctified by His grace, and you will find them paragons of urbanity and adepts in courtesy. Seeketh not her own. This Divine love is the very antithesis of carnal pleasure in all its forms and phases. So you are very likely to become oblivious to your own interest watching that of another, much preferring any little mistake that happens to be made to be against you, as self-denial is the safe side of every doubtful case. It is not provoked. It is said that King James translators added the word easily which occurs in the E.V., through deference to their king, who was known to have a high temper. Suffice it to say, easily is an interpolation, having been added by a human hand without Divine authority. So accept the truth, and rest assured that Divine love does not get angry. When the outbreak of anger comes, love is no longer holding the fort, which has been stormed and captured by the enemy. First, love conquers all malevolent affection and keep it down by the grace of God, so it does not come to the front and put forth overt action. always condemnatory; while it is the glorious province of perfect love to eradicate all the malevolent affections, so they rise no more to disturb the perfect peace which reigns within. It you have not this Divine love, you are no Christian. If you have it, you are not provoked, i. e., you do not give away to evil temper, in any of its forms or phases. Thinketh no evil; i. e., if you are in possession of this Divine love, which is the very nature of God, you think no evil, i. e., evil thoughts do not originate in your mind or rise from your heart. It does not mean that you do not think of evil. The world is full of it, crowding on you from every point of the compass. John Wesley beautifully said: You can not keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from lighting down and making nests in your hair. This illustration is easily appropriated. You can not keep evil thoughts from coming to you, and knocking for admission at the door of your heart, but you can keep from opening the door and letting them in. Sam Jones says: The devil is too polite to stay where he is not welcome. Turn over the key of your heart to Jesus, and He will lock it against all evil. Then give Him the key to keep, and rest assured He will never open the door to the ingress of an evil spirit. When Bunyans pilgrim was on his way to the Celestial City, on one occasion he was attacked by a cohort of devils who tormented him exceedingly. Among other devices, one of them slipped up behind him, whispering awful blasphemous obscenities in his ear, till he almost went into bewilderment thinking they were from his own heart and panic-stricken with the idea that such hideous corruption was there; but gloriously relieved to find out that it was not there at all, but it came from the filthy demon. The intrusion of evil thoughts upon your mind involve you in no more responsibility than hearing profanity which you can not help, as you are in no way responsible for the coming of these evil thoughts, but only for their admission and encouragement.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 4
Suffereth long; is patient and forbearing.–Vaunteth not itself; is not boastful.–Is not puffed up; with vanity and self-conceit.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
13:4 {2} Charity {d} suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
(2) He describes the force and nature of charity, partly by a comparison of opposites, and partly by the effects of charity itself. And by this the Corinthians may understand both how profitable it is in the church, and how necessary: and also how far they are from it, and therefore how vainly and without cause they are proud.
(d) Literally, “defers wrath”.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The character of love 13:4-7
The apostle next pointed out the qualities of love that make it so important. He described these in relationship to a person’s character that love rules. We see them most clearly in God and in Christ but also in the life of anyone in whose heart God’s love reigns.
"The observance of the truths of this chapter . . . would have solved their [the Corinthians’] problems." [Note: S. L. Johnson Jr., p. 1251.]
"Paul’s central section [1Co 13:4-7] uses anaphora (repetition of the first element) extensively. One of the three major types of rhetoric was epideictic (involving praise or blame), and one of the three types of epideictic rhetoric was the encomium, a praise of a person or subject. One common rhetorical exercise was an encomium on a particular virtue, as here (or Heb 11:3-31, also using anaphora)." [Note: Keener, p. 107.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Paul followed the two positive expressions of love with seven verbs that indicate how it does not behave. The first five of these marked the Corinthians, as we have seen. They were envious (cf. 1Co 3:3; 1Co 4:18), boastful (ostentatious; 1Co 3:18; 1Co 8:2; 1Co 14:37), proud (1Co 4:6; 1Co 4:18-19; 1Co 5:2; 1Co 8:1), rude (1Co 7:36; 1Co 11:2-16) and self-seeking (1Co 10:24; 1Co 10:33). Their behavior was not loving. Love does not deal with other people in a way that injures their dignity. It does not insist on having its own way, nor does it put its own interests before the needs of others (cf. Php 2:4). It is not irritable or touchy, but it absorbs offenses, insults, and inconveniences for the sake of others’ welfare. It does not keep a record of offenses received to pay them back (cf. Luk 23:34; Rom 12:17-21; 2Co 5:19).
"One of the great arts in life is to learn what to forget." [Note: Barclay, The Letters . . ., p. 136.]
"One of the most miserable men I ever met was a professed Christian who actually kept in a notebook a list of the wrongs he felt others had committed against him. Forgiveness means that we wipe the record clean and never hold things against people (Eph 4:26; Eph 4:32)." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:611.]
In the last two characteristics Paul moved beyond what this letter reveals marked the Corinthians.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Patience and kindness like love are aspects of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). The first characteristic is love’s passive response and the second its active initiative. Patience and kindness mark God, Christ, and truly Christian behavior.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 19
NO GIFT LIKE LOVE
THIS is one of the passages of Scripture which an expositor scruples to touch. Some of the bloom and delicacy of surface passes from the flower in the very handling which is meant to exhibit its fineness of texture. But although this eulogium of love is its own best interpreter, there are points in it which require both explanation and enforcement.
In the preceding chapter (12) Paul has striven to suppress the envy, vanity, and discord which had resulted from the abuse of the spiritual gifts with which the Corinthian Church was endowed. He has explained that these gifts were bestowed for the edification of the Church, and not for the glorification of the individual; and that therefore the individual should covet, not the most surprising, but the most profitable, of these manifestations of the Spirit. “Covet the best gifts,” he says: Desire the gifts which edify, the gift of exhortation, or, as it was then called, prophecy. And yet there is a more excellent way to edify the Church than even to exercise apostolic gifts; this is the way of love, which he proceeds to celebrate.
1. Love is the ligament which binds together the several members of the body of Christ, the cement, which keeps the stones of the temple together. Without love there can be no body, no temple, only isolated stones or disconnected, and therefore useless, members. The extraordinary gifts of which the Corinthians were so proud cannot compete with love. They may profit the Church, but without love they are no evidence of the ripe Christian manhood of their possessor. Suppose I speak all possible languages-languages of angels, if you please, as well as languages of men-and have not love, I am but a mere instrument played upon by another, no better than a bit of sounding brass, a trumpet or a cymbal, not enjoying, nor moved by, nor swayed by the music I make, but insensible. As Bunyan says, “Is it so much to be a fiddle?” If no man understands the language I am impelled to use, then I am but as a clanging cymbal, making a noise without significance. And even though I speak a tongue which some stranger recognises as his own, it is not I who am coming into contact with his soul through a living influence; I am but used as an instrument of brass is used by the player.
Or take even the higher gift of prophecy. Suppose I am enlightened by the Spirit so that I can explain things hitherto misunderstood; suppose I can make revelations of important truths which have been accessible to none besides; suppose even that I have all faith-faith, as the rabbis say, to remove mountains; suppose I can work miracles, heal the sick, raise the dead, set the whole world agape with astonishment-all this without love, however it may profit others, profits myself not at all, and neither brings me into closer connection with Christ nor gives assurance of my sound spiritual condition. I may be among the number of those who, after doing wonderful works in Christs name, are repudiated by Him. For as among ourselves there are many gifts, such as learning, eloquence, sagacity; musical, and poetical, and artistic genius, which may greatly contribute to the edification of the Church, and yet reside in persons who can make little claim to sanctity, so in the early Church these extraordinary spiritual gifts seem to have carried with them no evidence of their possessors personal religion. They had certainly begun a Christian career, but they might be deteriorating, in character instead of developing and maturing.
There were, however, two Christian actions which might seem to be beyond question as evidence of a sound spiritual condition: almsgiving and martyrdom. The young man who sought guidance from Christ lacked but one thing: to sell his property and give to the poor. But, says Paul, “though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” It is only too possible to do great acts of charity from a love of display, or from an uneasy sense of duty which parts reluctantly and grudgingly with what it bestows. That is understood. Common sense tells everyone but the abjectly superstitious man himself that it is as Impossible to buy spiritual health on a bed of death as it is to buy the cure of his mortal disease.
But martyrdom? Can a man give any stronger proof of his faith than to give his body to be burned? Certainly one would with great reluctance disparage the integrity of those courageous persons who in many ages of the Churchs history have gone without flinching to the stake. But, in point of fact, a willingness to suffer for ones opinion or ones faith is not in every case a guarantee of the existence of a heart transformed from selfishness to love. At one period martyrdom became fashionable, and Christian teachers were compelled to remonstrate with those who fanatically rushed to the stake and the arena, just as suicide once became fashionable at Rome and evoked prohibitory legislation.
Not without reason then does Paul so emphatically warn men against looking upon such exceptional actions or such extraordinary endowments as undoubted evidence of a healthy spiritual state. Gifts and conduct which bring men prominently before the eye of the Church or the world are often no index to the character; and if they be not rooted in and guided by love, their possessor has little reason to congratulate himself. Too often it is a mans snare to judge himself by what he does rather than by what he is. It is so easy comparatively to do great things, supposing certain gifts be present; it is at least always possible to human nature to make sacrifices and engage in arduous duties. The impossible thing is love. No eye to advantageous consequences or to public opinion can enable a man to love; no desire to maintain a character for piety can produce that grace. Love must be spontaneous, from the souls self, not produced by considerations or the requirements of a position we wish to reach or to maintain. It must be the unconstrained, natural outcome of the real man. Not even the consideration of Christs love will produce love in us if there be not a real sympathy with Christ. A sense of benefit received will not produce love where there is no similarity of sentiment. Love cannot be got up. It is the result of God entering and possessing the soul. “He that loveth is born of God.” That is the only account to be given of the matter. And therefore it is that where love is absent all is absent.
And yet how the mistake of the Corinthians is perpetuated from age to age. The Church is smitten with a genuine admiration of talent, of the faculties which make the body of Christ bulk larger in the eye of the world, while too often love is neglected. After all that the Church has learned of the dangers which accompany theological controversy, and of the hollowness of much that passes for growth, intellectual gifts are frequently prized more highly than love. Do we not ourselves often become aware that the absence of this one thing needful is writing vanity and failure on all we do and on all we are? Ii we are not yet in the real fellowship of the body of Christ, possessed by a love that prompts us to serve the whole, with what complacency can we look on other acquirements? Do parents sufficiently impress on their children that all successes at school and in early life are as nothing compared to the more obscure but much more substantial acquisition of a thoroughly unselfish, generous, catholic spirit of service?
2. Paul having illustrated the supremacy of love by showing that without it all other gifts are profitless, proceeds (1Co 13:4-7) to celebrate its own positive excellence. It is possible, though unlikely, that Paul may have read the eulogium pronounced on love by the greatest of Greek writers five hundred years before: “Love is our lord, supplying kindness and banishing unkindness, giving friendship and forgiving enmity, the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods; desired by those who have no part in him, and precious to those who have the better part in him; parent of delicacy, luxury, desire, fondness, softness, grace; careful of the good, uncareful of the evil. In every word, work, wish, fear-pilot, helper, defender, saviour; glory of gods and men, leader best and brightest; in whose footsteps let every man follow, chanting a hymn and joining in that fair strain with which love charms the souls of gods and men.” Five hundred years after Paul another eulogium was pronounced on love by Mahomet: “Every good act is charity: your smiling in your brothers face; your putting a wanderer in the right road; your giving water to the thirsty, or exhortations to others to do right. A mans true wealth hereafter is the good he has done in this world to his fellowman. When he dies, people will ask, What property has he left behind him? but the angels will ask what good deeds he has sent before him.” Pauls eulogium is the more effective because it exhibits in detail the various ramifications of this exuberant and fruitful grace, how it runs out into all our intercourse with our fellow men and carries with it a healing and sweetening virtue. It imbues the entire character, and contains in itself the motive of all Christian conduct. It is “the fulfilling of the Law.” Its claims are paramount because it embraces all other virtues. If a man has love, there is no grace impossible to him or into which love will not on occasion develop. Love becomes courage of the most absolute kind where danger threatens its object. It begets a wisdom and a skill which put to shame technical training and experience. It brings forth self-restraint and temperance as its natural fruit; it is patient, forgiving, modest, humble, sympathising. It is quite true that
“As every lovely hue is light,
So every grace is love.”
Thomas a Kempis dwells with evident relish on the varied capacity of this all-comprehending grace. “Love,” he says, “feels no burden, regards not labours, would willingly do more than it is able, pleads not impossibilities, because it feels sure that it can and may do all things. Love is swift, sincere, pious, pleasant, and delightful; strong, patient, faithful, prudent, long-suffering, manly, and never seeking itself: it is circumspect, humble, and upright; sober, chaste, steadfast, quiet, and guarded in all its senses”:
Pauls description of the behaviour of love is drawn in view of the discords and vanities of the Corinthians and as a contrast to their unseemly and unbrotherly conduct. “Love suffereth long, and is kind”; it reveals itself in a magnanimous bearing of injuries and in a considerate and tender imparting of benefits. It returns good for evil; not readily provoked by slights and wrongs, it ever seeks to spend itself in kindnesses. Then there is nothing envious, vain, or selfish in love. “Love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself.” It neither grudges others their gifts, nor is eager to show off its own. The pallor and bitter sneer of envy and the ridiculous swagger of the boastful are equally remote from love. “It is not puffed up, and doth not behave itself unseemly.” Love saves a man from making a fool of himself by consequential conduct, and by thrusting himself into positions which betray his incompetence, and by immodest, irreverent, and eccentric actions. It balances a man and gives him sense by bringing him into right relations with his fellows and prompting him to esteem their gifts more highly than his own. Neither is love ever on the watch for its own rights, scrupulously exacting the remuneration, the recognition, the applause, the precedence, the deference, that may be due: “it seeketh not its own.” “It is not easily provoked, nor does it take account of evil”; it is not fired with resentment at every slight, and does not make a mental note and lay up in its memory the contempt shown by one, the indifference shown by another, the intention to wound betrayed by a third. Love is too little occupied with itself to feel these exhibitions of malice very keenly. It is bent on winning the battle for others, and the wounds received in the cause are made light of. Its eye is still on the advantage to be gained by the needy, and not on itself.
Another manifestation of love, and one the mention of which pricks the conscience, is that it “rejoiceth not in unrighteousness.” It has no malignant pleasure in seeing reputations exploded, in discovering the sin, the hypocrisy, the mistakes, of other men. “It rejoiceth with the truth.” Where truth scatters calumny and Shows that suspicions were ill-founded, love rejoices. Successful wickedness, whether for or against its own interests, love has no pleasure in; but where goodness triumphs love is thrilled with a sympathetic joy. In place of rejoicing in discovered wickedness because it lowers a rival or seems to leave a more prominent position to itself, love hastens to cover the fault. “It covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things.” It has untiring charity, making every allowance, proposing every excuse, believing that explanations can be made, accepting greedily such as are made, slow to be persuaded that things are as bad as rumour paints, hoping against hope for the acquittal, or at any rate for the reformation, of every culprit.
3. Finally, Paul shows the superiority of love by comparing it in point of permanence, first, with the gifts of which the Corinthians were so proud, and, second, with the universal Christian graces.
“Love never faileth”; it is imperishable: it grows from less to more; there never comes a time When it gives place to some higher quality of soul, or when it is unimportant whether a man has it or no, or when it is no longer the criterion of the whole moral state. The most surprising spiritual gifts can make no such claim. “Whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease.” These gifts were for the temporary benefit of the Church. However some might misapprehend their significance and fancy that these extraordinary manifestations were destined to characterise the Christian Church throughout its history, Paul was not so deceived. He was prepared for their disappearance. They were the scaffolding which no one thinks of or inquires after when the building is finished, the school books which become the merest rubbish when the boy is educated, the prop which the forester removes when the sapling has become a tree.
But knowledge? The knowledge of God and of Divine things in which good men delight, and which is esteemed the stamina of character-is not this permanent? No, says Paul. “Knowledge also shall be done away.” And to illustrate his meaning Paul uses two figures: the figure of a childs knowledge, which is gradually lost in the knowledge of the man, and the figure of an object dimly seen through a semitransparent medium. We shall understand the significance and the bearing of these figures if we consider that when we speak of imperfect knowledge we mean either of two things: we may either mean that it is imperfect in amount or that it is imperfect in quality, in accuracy. When a boy begins the study of Euclid, the first proposition he learns is absolutely accurate and true; he may add to it, but he can never improve upon it. His knowledge is imperfect in amount, but so far as it goes it is absolutely reliable; he may build upon it and deduce other truths from it. But when we are walking on a misty morning and see an object at a distance, our knowledge is imperfect, but in quite another sense. It is imperfect in the sense of being dim, uncertain, inaccurate. We see that there is something before us, but whether a human being or a gatepost we cannot say. A little nearer we see it is a human being, but whether old or young, friend or no friend, we cannot say. Here the growth of our knowledge is from dimness to accuracy.
Both the figures used by Paul imply that our knowledge of Divine things is of this latter kind. They loom, as it were, through a mist. Many of their details are invisible. We have not got them under our hand to examine at leisure. Our present knowledge is as the light of a lantern by which we can pick our way, or as the starlight, for which we are thankful in the meantime; but when the sun of a wider, deeper, truer knowledge rises, what we now call knowledge shall be quite eclipsed. “When I was a child,” says Paul, “I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” That is to say, Paul was distinctly aware that much of our present knowledge is provisional, We do not know the very truth, but only such approximations to the truth and such symbols of it as we are able to understand. We are at present in the state of childhood, which cherishes many notions destined to be exploded by maturer knowledge. We think of God as a Being very similar to ourselves, only very much greater; and in our present state we must be content with this imperfect knowledge, but prepared to put it away as “childish” when fuller knowledge comes. The atoning death of Christ may be spoken of as the substitutionary sacrifice of a Victim on whom our guilt is laid; but to speak thus of the death of Christ is to make large use of the language of symbol, and we must hold our minds open for the fuller knowledge which will make such language seem quite inadequate. Pauls language warns us against speaking, or thinking, or acting as if our knowledge of Divine things were perfectly accurate, and as if therefore we might freely and unhesitatingly condemn all who differ from us.
The other figure is still more precise, although there is great difference of opinion as to what Paul means by seeing now “through a glass, darkly.” The word here rendered “glass” is used either for the dim metallic mirror used by the ancients, or for the semi-translucent talc which was their substitute for glass in windows. Of these two meanings it is the latter which in this passage gives the best sense. It was a common figure among the rabbis to illustrate dimness of vision. If they wished to denote direct and clear vision, they spoke of seeing a thing face to face; if they wished to denote uncertain hazy vision, they spoke of seeing through a glass-that is, through a substance only a little more transparent than our own dimmed glass, through which you can see objects, but cannot tell exactly what they are or who the persons are who are moving. Thus they had a common saying, “All other prophets saw as through nine glasses, Moses as through one.” The rabbis, too, had another saying which illustrates the second part of this twelfth verse: “Even as a king, who with common people talks through a veil, so that he sees them, but they do not see trim, but when his friend comes to speak to him, he removes this veil, so that he might see him face to face, even so did God speak to Moses apparently, and not darkly.”
Interpreting Pauls language then by the language of his own kith and kin and of the schools in which he had been educated, his meaning is that in this life we can see Divine things only dimly and as through a veil, but hereafter we shall see them without the intervention of any obscuring medium. Here and now we can make out only the general outline of the unseen realities; but hereafter we shall know even as we are known, shall see God as directly as He now sees us. We shall not have even then the same perfect knowledge of Him that He has of us, but shall see Him as immediately and directly as He sees us. Now He wears a veil through which He can see, but through which we cannot see; hereafter He will lay aside this. Our present knowledge of God and of all things unseen is necessarily vague, not susceptible of exact definition. There are some things of which we may be quite sure, others of which we must be content to remain in uncertainty. We may be quite sure that God exists, that He loves us, that He has sent His Son to save us; but if we attempt to run a sharp and clear outline round the truths thus dimly seen, we shall inevitably err.
It may be added that while Paul warns us against supposing that our knowledge is perfect, he does not mean to brand it as useless or delusive. On the contrary, his figures imply that it is necessary for our growth, and that unless we honestly use such knowledge as we have, we cannot win our way to knowledge that is perfect. It is the imperfect knowledge of the child which leads it on to further attainment. The fundamental doctrine of the Christian creed that there are three Persons in one God is certainly a very rough and childish expression of a truth far deeper than we can understand, but to reject this doctrine because it is evidently only an approximation to a truth which cannot be defined and stated in final terms is to refuse to submit to the conditions under which we now live and to ape a manhood which in point of fact we do not possess.
Pauls crowning testimony to the worth of love is given in the thirteenth verse: “But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” He does not mean that love abides while faith becomes sight and hope fruition. Rather he indicates that faith and hope are also imperishable, and hereby distinguished from the spiritual gifts of which he has been speaking. Both in this life and in that which is to come faith, hope, and love abide. For faith and hope pass away only in one aspect of their exercise. If by faith be meant belief in things unseen, this passes away when the unseen is seen. If hope be taken as referring only to the future state in general, then when that state is reached hope passes away. But faith and hope are really permanent elements of human life, faith being the confidence we have in God, and hope the ever-renewed expectancy of future good. But while faith maintains us in connection with God, love is the enjoyment of God and the partaking of His nature; and while hope renews our energy and guides our aims, it can bring us to no better thing than love.
To see the beauty, fruitfulness, and sufficiency of love is easy, but to have it as the mainspring of our own life most difficult, indeed the greatest of all attainments. This we instinctively recognise as the true test of our condition. Have we that in us which really knits us to God and our fellow men and prompts us to do our utmost for them? Have we in us this new affection which destroys selfishness and brings us into true and lasting relations with all we have to do with? This is the root of all good, the beginning of all blessedness, because the germ of all likeness to God, who Himself is love.