| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 1 |
Page 5 |
This world is full of marvelous beauty. Everything in nature is lovely. When heaven is described the words that are used are those which suggest the most dazzling and radiant splendor. The streets are paved with gold, the walls are built of precious stones, the gates are great pearls, the sea is of glass, the light is transfiguration glory. This is the home of man that is to be – saved, restored, perfected man.
All the precepts of the Bible are towards the fashioning of beauty in every redeemed life. We are to put away all that is sinful, all marring, every blot and blemish, every unholy desire, feeling, and affection, everything that would defile, and put on whatsoever is lovely and Christ like. The one great work of Christ in Christian lives is the fashioning of holiness in them. We are to grow away from our deformities, our faults and infirmities, our poor, dwarfed, stunted life, into spiritual beauty. The mark set before us is the likeness of Christ, which, at last, we shall attain.
Strength and beauty are not incompatible; they are compliments of each other. Perfect strength is always beautiful and perfect beauty is always strong. In every Christian life and character the two qualities should be combined. Yet not always is it so. We find sometimes the sturdy elements – integrity, justice, courage, without the beauty of grace and tenderness. Then sometimes we find the gentle qualities – sympathy, love, compassion, kindness, without the rugged virtues which are so necessary in a complete character. In both cases there is a lack. Neither strength nor beauty without the other is complete; each is but a fragment. Only when the two are united is the life really Christ like.
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