In addition to knowing people who are patient and kind, there are also those who do not envy, those who do not boast, and those who are not proud. But the difficulty, you see, is in getting all of these things together. I know people who are patient, but they do not persevere. Or there are people who are kind, but they are really not very hopeful. When you begin to ask if there is anybody like that, we conclude that there is no one who meets that standard from which we all fall short except for Jesus Christ. Isn’t this a portrait of Christ?
Take out the word “love” and put in the name of Christ, and it reads as a perfect description of His character. Jesus Christ is patient, even with us. You know what we are like. We produce anything but patience in the reaction of other people. But Jesus is so patient. He does not give up. When we do the same sinful thing over and over again, and when we are so thick to learn a spiritual lesson, we know how patient Jesus is.
Jesus Christ is kind. Haven’t you found Him to be kind? Jesus knows all about you. He sees deep inside your heart and the sin that is there and the things you struggle with. And yet, He does not treat us harshly. He does not point a finger at you and accuse you or mock you for all the wrong things you do. He is kind and He carefully works with us to bring out the character which He Himself has placed within. It says in Scripture, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench” (Isa. 42:3).
Jesus Christ does not envy. Jesus Christ does not boast. Jesus Christ is not proud. Jesus Christ is not rude. Jesus Christ is not self-seeking. Jesus Christ is not easily angered. Jesus Christ keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus Christ does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Jesus always protects. Jesus always trusts. Jesus always hopes. Jesus always perseveres. I think that is absolutely marvelous. It is wonderful to be able to recognize that our God is like that. Our Savior is like that. To know this is the nature of reality. This is what life is about. Everything else—the envy, the boasting, the pride, the rudeness—is an aberration. That is not what God intended. It is a knowledge of the character of Christ that draws us on to be like Him by His grace.
In Henry Drummond’s sermon, which I mentioned at the beginning, he analyzes these things very carefully. When he gets to the end, he says, “Get these ingredients into your life. Then everything that you do is eternal.” If love is going to abide, then these things which are the expression of love are not going to die either. So if what you do is characterized by patience, if what you do is characterized by kindness, if what you do flowing from love protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres, then what you do not only matters, but endures, and endures for all eternity.
Why is it then that we spend so much time trying to do the opposite? For example, we spend so much time acquiring knowledge because we want to be thought wise by others. We want to be remembered for what we know and how well we can explain it. Paul says it is going to pass away. Or we say, “Oh, I’m not the theological type. I don’t have a great mind. But I want to do something supernatural. I want to be able to speak in tongues. I want to be able to be endowed by God with the gift of healing. If I could only do that, then I’d be remembered.” Or another wants to be remembered for all the good deeds they have done. But Paul says that this, too, will pass away.
However, if what you do is characterized by love, which manifests itself in things that you do and also in things you do not do, then all that will remain eternally because it is the work of God. If we could just see that, I suppose that alone would so radically transform us and our churches that the world would actually sit up and take notice, and remark that there is something going on there that it simply does not have.
