Imitate the pearl oyster!

(Charles Spurgeon, "Love's Labors")

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13

I wish, brothers and sisters, that we could all imitate the pearl oyster. A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. The oyster cannot reject the evil-but it 'covers' it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl!

Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians-so that pearls of patience, gentleness, and forgiveness might be bred within us, by that which otherwise would have harmed us!

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8