14. Now there is nothing that so much exalts our souls, as this heavenly love; it cleanses and purifies like a holy fire, and all ill tempers fall away before it. By love, I don’t mean any _natural tenderness_, which is more or less in people, according to their constitutions; but a _larger principle_ of the soul, which makes us kind to all our fellow-creatures, as creatures of God, and for his sake.
It is this love that loves all things in God, as his creatures, as the images of his power, as the creatures of his goodness, as parts of his family, as members of his society, that becomes a holy principle of all great and good actions.
These reasons sufficiently shew, that no love is _holy_, or _religious_, till it becomes _universal_.
For if religion requires me to love all persons, as God’s creatures, that belong to him, that bear his image, enjoy his protection, and make parts of his family and houshold; if these are the great reasons why I should live in love with any one man in the world, they are the same great reasons why I should live in love with every man in the world; and consequently, I offend against _all these reasons_, whenever I want love towards any one man. The sin therefore of hating or despising any one man, is like the sin of hating all God’s creation; and the necessity of loving any one man, is the same necessity of loving every man in the world. And tho’ many people may appear to us ever so sinful, odious, or extravagant in their conduct, we must never look upon that as the least motive for any contempt or disregard of them; but look upon them with the greater compassion, as being in the most pitiable condition that can be.
15. *As it was the sins of the world, that made the Son of God become a compassionate suffering Advocate for all mankind; so no one is of the Spirit of Christ, but he that has the _utmost compassion_ for sinners. And you have never less reason to be pleased with yourself, than when you find yourself most offended at the behaviour of others. All sin is certainly to be hated; but then, we must set ourselves against sin, as we do against _sickness_ and _diseases_, by shewing ourselves tender and compassionate to the _sick_ and _diseased_.
*All other hatred of sin, which does not fill the heart with the _softest_, _tenderest_ affections towards persons miserable in it, it is the servant of sin at the same time that it seems to be hating it.
And there is no temper which even good men ought more carefully to guard against than this. For it is a temper that lurks under the cover of many virtues, and by being unsuspected does the more mischief.
A man naturally fancies, that it is his own love of virtue that makes him not able to bear with those that want it; and when he _abhors_ one man, _despises_ another, and can’t bear the _name_ of a third, he supposes it all to be a proof of his own _high sense_ of virtue, and _just hatred_ of sin.
And yet one would think that a man needed no other cure for this temper, than this one reflection:
That if this had been the _spirit_ of the Son of God, if he had hated sin in _this manner_, there had been no redemption of the world: if God had hated sinners in this manner, the world itself had ceased long ago.
This therefore we may take for a certain rule, that the more we partake of the divine nature, and the higher our sense of virtue is, the more we shall compassionate those that want it. The sight of such people will then, instead of raising in us a haughty contempt, or peevish indignation towards them, fill us with such bowels of compassion, as when we see the miseries of an _hospital_.
16. That the follies therefore, and ill-behaviour of our fellow creatures, may not lessen that love which we are to have for all mankind, we should often consider the reasons on which this duty of love is founded.
Now we are to love our neighbour, that is, all mankind, not because they are wise, holy or virtuous; for all mankind never was, nor ever will be so.
Again, if their goodness were the reason of our being obliged to love people, we should have no _rule_ to proceed by; because tho’ some people’s virtues or vices are notorious, yet, generally speaking, we are but ill judges of the virtue of other people.
_Thirdly_, We are sure that the virtue of persons, is not the reason of our being obliged to love them, because we are commanded to pay the highest instances of love to our worst enemies; we are to love, and bless, and pray for those that most injuriously treat us. This therefore is demonstration, that the merit of persons is not the reason on which our obligation to love them is founded.
Let us farther consider what that love is which we owe to our neighbour; it is to love him as ourselves, that is, to wish him every thing that we may lawfully wish to ourselves; to be glad of every good, and sorry for every evil that happens to him: and to be ready to do him all such acts of kindness, as we are always ready to do ourselves.