| The Beauty of Self Control |
Chapter 13 |
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Hundreds of people in barren conditions never hear such a word from any lips and are starved to death for want of love. Human friends have brought life, joy, hope, and marvelous uplifting to countless lives just by saying, “I will be your friend.” Nothing you can do for the world could mean half so much to men as just going among them and in reality becoming their friend. There are great men, with noble gifts and splendid qualities, who have learned the secret of loving others, who are doing marvelous good among their fellows, not by giving them anything, nor by doing anything for them, but just by being a friend to them.
There never was any other man who wrought such a ministry of friendship as Christ has wrought through the centuries. He is always coming to men and saying, “I am your friend.” That was the way he saved Simon, making of him the great apostle whose name is known through the world. That was the way he took the youth John, becoming his friend, putting a glorious ideal into his heart, and making him ultimately the apostle of love. It is this blessed friendship that, all the Christian centuries, has been touching lives everywhere with its own spirit of unselfishness and service. There are many pictures of Jesus in the Gospels, but perhaps there is no one more suggestive of his real character than the one which shows him girt with a towel, holding the basin and washing the disciples’ feet. There is nothing Jesus would not do, no sacrifice he would not make, no humbling of himself to which he would not stoop, in doing the part of a friend.
Dr. Watson (Ian Maclaren) tells of once hearing a plain sermon in a little country church. It was a layman, a farmer, who preached, but Dr. Watson says he never heard so impressive an ending to any sermon as he heard that day. After a fervent presentation of the Gospel, the preacher said with great earnestness: “My friends, why is it that I go on, preaching to you, week by week? It is just this – because I can’t eat my bread alone.” That is the Master’s own burden – his heart is breaking to have men share with him the blessings of life. He cannot bear to be alone in his joy. There is no surer test of love for Christ than the longing to have others love him.
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