Wherein We Are Weak

If we follow the apostolic definition further we must be conscious of still more searching questions. "Love envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." It cannot be denied that as a race we are very weak and faulty in these matters. Envy is one of the commonest of human sins, often being the basis of personal hatreds, political agitations, and national wars. We may find it easy to "weep with those who weep", but hard to "rejoice with those who rejoice". The good fortune of another man is often provocative of angry resentment. The elevation of a fellow worker often causes a dissatisfaction with a position which hitherto had been accepted without complaint. A disciple of Christ needs to bring the matter home to himself, and cleanse his heart from this evil thing.

In the matter of being puffed up and vaunting ourselves, our weakness would be amusing if it were not tragic. If a disciple is at all capable of that occasional introspection which is necessary (1 Corinthians 11:28) he will probably sometimes discover himself spreading forth his talents and making the best show of them to his fellows. One who does not boast is often restrained more by an intelligent appreciation of its folly than by a true humility. It is possible to exercise great skill in vaunting oneself, never appearing to boast, but contriving to let people know of those qualities which they might fail to observe in the absence of these clever but apparently undesigned displays.

Then we may note the many minor struggles and tragedies of human life in which several of the evils enumerated by the Apostle are blended. The efforts of successful business people to get into "the best society", and the cruel humiliations to which they are subjected by those who are determined to keep them out. In turn, their still more emphatic repudiation of ambitious climbers from a still lower grade. This proud assumption of superiority may be seen in all grades of society, and it is not entirely excluded from Christian brotherhood, where there may be a tendency to form cliques, to keep out all who are not of the elite, and to treat less favoured members with patronage rather than friendship.
We must take note, too, of our ready tendency to resent such treatment from those who are more fortunate, a tendency so strong that sometimes-perhaps we might even say often- such an assumption of superiority is suspected even when it does not exist. On the one hand is an attitude based on sinful pride, on the other a feeling of resentment based on envy. True Christian love will cut out all these evils.