February 5

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding beast, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity vaffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not, charity vaimeth not itself, is not puffed up. 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, boyeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

"Nowhere in the Bible is it said that God is faith—or, that God is hope—but it is said, 'God is love,' infinite and eternal love. If we, therefore, dwell in love we dwell in God, and God in us—we get so far into the bosom of The Infinite, that the world, the flesh and the devil have no power over us.

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Oh, blissful condition! Let us be emulous to rise to this high, New Testament estate."—Selected.

"Faith receives good, love does good. Faith and hope profit me only, but love serves many."—Hed.

Gifts do not make a man worthy. Satan has gifts. Gifts are what we have; love is what we are.

We need to study carefully verses 4-7. In them we have Love's treatment of others. Love is slow to resent. It does not soon fly into a rage. Not only does it bear with the vexatious; but it is "kind" to them. Love envieth not—the good fortune of others does not make it jealous. It has no spiritual pride. In its own eyes it has not reached spiritual perfection. It is "not easily provoked." Where there is little patience, there is little love. Love is not the mother of suspicion. "Faults are thick where love is thin." It does not rejoice in iniquity, or in slips of its neighbor. It doesn't relish scandal. "Beareth (covereth) all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things"—love believes in the possibility of reformation.

Love says there is some good in the most disagreeable people. "The snapdragon is a yellow weed, growing by the roadside, and in the fields, the abomination of the farmers; it has a very unsavory smell, and I have never seen even a goat eat it, but I noticed the other day a bumble-bee on one, a honey bee on another, and a butterfly on a third. I should not have been surprised to have seen a humming-bird on a fourth—something sweet even in a snapdragon! Not only disagreeable people may have something sweet in them, but snapdragon circumstances may, too."—Selected.

Closet Promise.—God is love.—1 John iv. 8.

"We never know through what divine mysteries of compensation the great Father of the universe may be carrying out His sublime plan; but the words 'God is love' ought to contain to every doubting soul the solution of all things."—Mrs. Muloch.