“Rouse to some work of high and holy love,
And thou an angel’s happiness shalt know,
Shalt bless the earth; while in the world above,
The good begun by thee shall onward flow
In many a branching stream, and wider grow;
The seed that in these few and fleeting hours
Thy hands unsparing and unwearied sow,
Shall deck thy grave with amaranthine flowers,
And yield thee fruits divine in heaven’s imperial bowers.”
Before we can do people good we must love them. There is no other secret of real helpfulness. The weakness of many schemes for the relief of distress and the amelioration of misery is that they are only systems, working in mechanical lines, but without a heart of love to inspire them. A paid agent may dispense charity very justly and generously, and what he gives may serve its purpose well enough – fuel for the fire in winter, bread for hunger, and clothes to cover the shivering poor. But how much would be added to the value of these gifts if love dispensed them, if a real heart beat of human sympathy throbbed and thrilled in each bit of helpfulness. There are deeper wants than those of the body. There is a higher help than that which satisfies only physical needs. When with the gift of bread love comes to the door, when it is a brother’s hand that brings the welcome loaf, two hungers are fed, the hunger of the body and the hunger of the heart.
But not in charity only is it the element of love that imparts the best blessing, multiplying many times the value of the material gifts disbursed. In all lines of life it is love that is the true secret of power. We know the difference in the serving that is merely professional, however skillful it may be, and the serving that love inspires. It is interesting to remember that the one question which the Master asked His disciple, whom He was about to restore to his lost place as an apostle, was, “Lovest thou Me?” Not until Peter had answered this question affirmatively could the care of souls be put into his hands. The essential qualification, therefore, for being a pastor, a teacher, or a spiritual helper of other lives, is love. It is, first of all, love for Christ. One who does not love Him more than all other things and all other beings is not truly His disciple, and certainly is not fitted for shepherd work among Christ’s sheep and lambs. But if there be true love for Christ there will also be love for our brothers. No one is fit to do Christ’s work for men who do not love men.
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