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The Grace of Sympathy, June 26
We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak,
and not to please ourselves.
Romans 15:1
.
What we all need is a more pure, Christlike sympathy; not sympathy
for those who are perfect—they do not need it—but sympathy for poor,
suffering, struggling souls who are often overtaken in fault, sinning and
repenting, tempted and discouraged. The effect of grace is to soften
and subdue the soul. Then all this cold unapproachableness is melted,
subdued, and Christ appears.
The love of God alone can open and expand the heart, and give to
love and sympathy a breadth and height that is without measure. Those
who love Jesus will love all the children of God. The sense of personal
infirmities and imperfections will lead the human agent to look away
from self to Christ; and the Saviour’s love will break down every cold,
Pharisaical barrier, it will banish all harshness and selfishness, and there
will be a blending of soul with soul, even with those who are opposite in
temperament.
The goodness and forbearance of God, His self-sacrificing love to
sinful men, must lead all who discern His grace to manifest the same, to
give sympathy liberally to others. The wonderful example of the life of
Christ, the matchless tenderness with which He entered into the feelings
of the oppressed soul, weeping with those that wept, rejoicing with all
that rejoiced in His love, must have a deep influence upon the character
of all who love God and keep His commandments.
They will give sympathy, not grudgingly but liberally; by kindly words
and acts they will try to make the path just as easy for weary feet as they
desire the path to be made for their feet. As we receive daily and hourly
the blessing of God, we can do no less to show our gratitude than to have
a kindly, unselfish interest in those for whom Christ has died. Have we
blessings? Yes, we have. Well, Christ says, Pass them along to others, not
to a favored few, but to all with whom we come in contact. We must give
grace for grace.
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