Imitate the loving Jesus!

(Charles Spurgeon, "Christ's People, Imitators of Him")  Play Audio!  Download Audio

Let us ever imitate the loving Jesus.

The child comes to Him; He takes it on His knee, saying, "Let the little children come unto Me, and forbid them not."

A widow has just lost her only son; He weeps at the coffin, and with a word restores life to the dead man.

He sees a paralytic, a leper, or a man long confined to his bed; He speaks, they rise and are healed.

He lived for others, not for Himself. His constant labors were without any motive, except the good of those who lived in the world.

And to crown all, you know the mighty sacrifice He made, when He condescended to lay down His life for man when on the tree, quivering with agony, and hanging in the utmost extremity of suffering—He submitted to die for our sakes, that we might be saved!

Behold in Christ, 'love consolidated'. He was one mighty pillar of benevolence!

Christ is love!

Oh, you Christians, you should be loving also. Let your love and your beneficence beam out on all men!

Each in your proper sphere—speak kind words, do kind actions. Live out Christ again in the "kindness of your life". If there is one virtue which most commends Christians, it is that of kindness; it is to love the people of God, to love the church, to love the world, to love all.

But how many have we in our churches of crab-tree Christians, who have mixed such a vast amount of vinegar, and such a tremendous quantity of gall in their constitutions, that they can scarcely speak one good word to you. They imagine it impossible to defend religion except by passionate ebullitions.

They cannot speak for their dishonored Master without being angry with their opponent; and if anything is awry, whether it be in the house, the church, or anywhere else—they conceive it to be their duty to set their faces like flint, and to defy everybody.

They are like isolated icebergs; no one cares to go near them. They float about on the sea of forgetfulness, until at last they are melted and gone. And though, good souls, we shall be happy enough to meet them in Heaven, we are very glad to get rid of them from the earth! They were always so unamiable in disposition, that we would rather live an eternity with them in Heaven, than five minutes on earth.

Don't you be like this, my brethren. Imitate Christ in your loving spirits. Speak kindly, act kindly, and do kindly—that men may say of you, "He has been with Jesus!"