With and Without Charity.
By C. Green
How desolate and void of good impulses is the heart which is destitute of that Christian virtue, charity, that love which covers a multitude of sins, and hides the faults, and conceals the deformities seen in others. Without it, judgment is passed upon the slightest offenses without consideration or the feeling of pity; with it, the heart overflows with mercy toward the offender however great the offense committed may be. Without it, the judgment becomes biased, and decisions on the course and faults of others are often rendered without evidence or proof; with it, judgment is preceded with a careful consideration of every circumstance that may have produced the fault, or caused the sin of the offender. Without it, the slightest injury becomes a crime too great to be pardoned; with it many are ever ready to palliate the evil done, and forgive the offender on the first appearance of repentance: yea, while he may yet be pondering whether to confess and retract the wrong he has done. How ready we are to judge others, when this blessed virtue is absent from the heart, even with such scriptures before us as, “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth,” “But why dost thou judge thy brother, or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.” When love is absent, sarcasm and wrong feeling will prompt the utterance of bitter words against those who are our betters in Christian experience, and far above us in knowledge, wisdom, and the love of God. Without charity, we are deprived of the blessing the merciful obtain; so, when we find ourselves void of love, we may be sure we are lacking in mercy; for they are twin sisters, and cannot be separated; and consequently we are without a forgiving spirit, and so may not hope to be forgiven by our Father who is in Heaven. How many blessings we lose without charity!