he load of others. Selfishness must die or
else our own heart's life must be frozen within us. We soon learn that
we cannot live for ourselves and be Christians; that the blessings that
are given to us are really for other people, and that we are only God's
ministers, to carry them in Christ's name to those for whom they are
intended.

We begin to felicitate ourselves upon some special prosperity, and the
next moment some human need knocks at our door, and we must share our
good things with a suffering brother. We may build up our fine
theories of taking care of ourselves, of living for the future, of
laying up in the summer of prosperity for the winter of adversity, of
providing for old age or for our children; but ofttimes all these
frugal and economic plans have to yield to the exigencies of human
need. The love that seeketh not its own plays havoc with life's hard
logic, and with the plans of mere self-interest. We cannot say that
anything is our own when our brother is suffering for what we can give.

"Herein is love: to strip the shoulders bare.
If need be, that a frailer one may wear
A mantle to protect it from the storm;
To bear the frost-king's breath so one be warm;
To crush the tears it would be sweet to shed,
And smile so others may have joy instead.

"Herein is love: to daily sacrifice
The hope that to the bosom closest lies;
To mutely bear reproach and suffer wrong,
Nor lift the voice to show where both belong;
Nay, now, nor tell it e'en to God above--
Herein is love indeed, herein is love."

Not a day passes in the commonest experiences of life, in which other
people do not stand before us with their needs, appealing to us for
some service which we may render to them. It may be only ordinary
courtesy, the gentle kindness of the home circle, the patient treatment
of neighbors or customers in business relations, the thoughtful showing
of interest in old people or in children. On all sides the lives of
others touch ours, and we cannot do just as we please, thinking only of
ourselves, and our own comfort and good, unless we choose to be false
to all the instincts of humanity, and all the requirements of the law
of Christian love. We must think continually of other people.

We may not seek our own pleasure in any way without asking whether it
will harm or mar the comfort of some other one. For example, we must
think of other people's convenience in the exercise of our