Love for Your Brother

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 29, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 50.

Love for Your Brother

(Sir Wm. M. Ramsey in S. S. Times)

The right line of conduct will be determined by love. You may feel that a meat is not made unclean because the animal was sacrificed to a pagan god; but do not wound a brother’s feelings while you display your freedom of mind by eating it. Christ died to save him: will you not deny yourself in this small matter to help him? Will you put a strain on his conscience, and perhaps lead him into doing what he thinks wrong? Any matter of food and drink belongs in itself to mere human life, and is not a part of the kingdom of God; such matters are temporary, evanescent, and unreal.

We should live in and for the kingdom of God, that is, for what is eternal, enduring, and real; and to that category belong righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit, not meats and drink. These greater things we shall attain by seeking always to do what will tend to produce peace among our brethren, and to build them up in goodness of character. In itself wine, like meat, is not evil; but it is evil in its effect on the character and life of society. Do not for the sake of a mere drink overthrow the work of God; for you do that if you help by your example to spread the habit of drinking wine. Hold your own beliefs, as far as you can justify them to God; but let your beliefs be between God and yourself. In your action and life think of your neighbor—and show your love for him. It is not your beliefs, but your conduct and your love and your self-sacrifice, that make your life. These are the things that stand the test, and last through time into the eternal kingdom of God.