Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-10-12
Forgive Your Enemy.

Forgive Your Enemy.
II ye forgive men their trespasses.
your heavenly Father will also forgive
Matthew. vi, IA. 1t is very hard
to forgive. even under the conditions
promised in the text. We are anxious
to receive pardon, but unwilling to give
it. 1t seems quite natural and proper
for God to forgive us, but we take
great credit to ourselves for doing the
same to others. When we say in
prayer, Forgive as we forgive" we
voluntarily set up a standard by which
We are not ready to be judged. We
either utter the phrase too lightly, not
meaning what we say or we hope that
the Lord will not take us at our word
and will treat us with more leniency
than we propose to extend to those
who have given us offense. Enmities
are the bane of spiritual life They are
an active poison to the soul. They are
destructive, but they never help to con-
struct. One cannot get very close to
God. or understand the beauty or the
divinity Of religion, or be thoroughly
acceptable to himself while he cher
ishes grudge. The curtains are drawn
down, the sunlight is shut out, and
those curtains will not be lifted and
the full blaze of sunshine will not pour
in until We are in such frame of mind
that we will do service to our worst
foe. This Is a matter for careful con-
sideration. Before we can be at our
best we must face the fact that it is
one of our prime duties to cherish no
i'll will to any one, to Danish every de-
sire for revenge by substituting for it
a generosity of judgment like that by
which we would ourselves be judged.
Enmities are out of place in Gods
world. There is literally no reason why
they should exist. There is not one
of them which cannot be overcome il
we are truly religious. In the first
place, If we take purely selfish view
OF the case we do ourselves an injury
by cherishing them. No man is a
whole man who has hatred in his
heart. He checks his own growth. he
embitters mis- own nature, he lowers
his moral tone, he weakens the good
that is in him and strengthens the
evil by offering hospitality to thoughts
which are not worthy Of him. A sin
gle discord in an orchestra spoils the
effect Of the music as a whole, for when
you listen the discord makes itselt
disagreeably apparent. A revengeful
impulse in like manner spoils the gen.
eral effect of character, for it domi-
mates and gives its tone to everything.
A little lemon juice in a glass of water
is so persuasive than you can taste 1t
in every drop, and an evil thought in
the heart gives its own popularity to
every beat of that heart Such thoughts
are always and under all circumstances
a bad investment. The soul is too no.
BILE. too grand, to be marred by re-
venges. 1t is not worth ones while
to hate even your bitterest enemy. Re-
frain from doing SO, il not for his sake.
then for your own. You are too large
to do so small thing. In the second
place. we should take offense SLOWLY
A quick temper which jumps at a con-
clusion and too frequently at wrong
conclusion is something to be over
come, to be tanned, to be disciplined
and controlled. Self-poise is the high.
est end to be attained difficult. but
necessary to the proper conduct OF |
life. Many an exasperating word is
said and many disturbing deed Is |
done from simple impulse. 1t comes |
like the fash of lightning, but love is |
the lightning rod which carries 1t safe
II to the ground, where the destructive |
fluid is dissipated. Words at times |
laean nothing, though they are fiery, |
ind deeds mean nothing, for they are |
the result of an uncontrolled impulse. |
q man should be judged not by what
ne says or does under special circum-
stances, but by his motive in saying or
doing. 1t is fact that one may have
i good motive and still say or do what
lie Immediately regrets. Look, there |
iore, at the motive and you will avoid |
many an unpleasant day. Temper that |
meets temper resembles the meeting OF
i spark and gunpowder 1t Is better
to keep still until the explosive
thought has spent itself in the air than
to say in haste what you will repent /
of at leisure. and better to accept a
hasty word than to resent it and be /
sorry for your resentment We should |
make our lives free from much of this |
kind of pain If we had ourselves well |
ia hand, and friendships would not be |
so frequently broken for causes which |
are not adequate to the effect produced. |
OF course ! am speaking of the ideal |
life, in which revenges are an impos- I
sibility. 1t can never be alta med until |
we learn to love the world. 1t is hero
Ism to do good in payment for evil, but |
1t is the kind Of heroism which God |
demands and which the soul demands |
for itself. You can kill an enmity more /
quickly by loving your enemy than |
by giving him what he gives you.
Christ's language is very strong in this
regard, but the world is still ignorant /
OF His philosophy There is no power
in earth or cloud which will compare
with the power of love. 1t is the most |
resistless thing in the universe No |
man can stand up against 1t. 1t repre-
sents the presence of God Himself |
Forgive the wrong that is done. throw |
revenge to the winds, never demand a
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