Let Us Look After The “Nots”

A.B. Simpson 90 x115by A.B. Simpson

Charity . . . doth not behave itself unseemly—1 Corinthians 13:5

The graceful dress of the Hindu woman is fastened upon her person by means of a single knot. The long strip of cloth is wound around her so that it falls in soft folds like a ready-made garment. The end, however, is fastened by a little knot, and the whole thing hangs by that single fastening.

So it is in the spiritual life; our habits of grace can be compared to garments. It is also true that the garment of love, which is the beautiful adorning of the child of God, is entirely fastened by little nots.

If you will read First Corinthians chapter 13 with care, you will find that most of the qualities of love are purely negative. Love . . . envieth not, love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.

Here are "nots" enough to hold on our spiritual wardrobe. Here also are reasons enough to explain the failure of so many, and the reason why they walk naked, or with torn garments, allowing others to see their shame. Let us look after the nots.

by A.B. Simpson

January 10th, 2013

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Spiritual Habits

A.B. Simpson 90 x115by A.B. Simpson

I will . . . cause you to walk in my statutes—Ezekiel 36.27

The highest spiritual condition is one where life is spontaneous and flows without effort, like the deep floods of Ezekiel’s river, where the struggles of the swimmer ceased, and he was borne by the current’s resistless force.

So God leads us into spiritual conditions and habits which become the spontaneous impulses of our being, and we live and move in the fullness of the divine life.

These spiritual habits are not the outcome of some transitory impulse, but often are acquired and established slowly. They begin, like every true habit, in a definite act of will, and they are confirmed by the repetition of that act until it becomes a habit. The first stages always involve effort and choice. We have to take a stand and hold it steadily, and after we have done so a certain time, it becomes second nature and carries us by its own force.

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