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example, it is written both in the Law and in the Gospel; 'Thou 1 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' Again the Lord Jesus Christ gave command: 'All 2 things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets.' In another passage He said: 'A 3 new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.' Elsewhere it is written: 'Owe 4 no man anything, save to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, and if. there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: love therefore is the fulfilment of the law.' But love and friendship must be genuine and unfeigned, like that which is described in the following verses: 'Love 5 suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things,


1 Lev. xix. 18; Matt. xxii. 39. 2 Matt. vii. 12.
3 John xiii. 34-5. 4 Rom, xiii. 8-10. 5 1 Cor. xiii. 4-8.

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hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth.' It is a true Christian's duty to love not only his neighbours and the men of his own family but also all men, even his enemies. And his love for them should increase day by day, as he himself learns to love Christ better and better; for it is written: 'The 1 Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you; to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before our God and Father.' And in another passage: 'In 2 your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; and in your knowledge temperance; and in your temperance patience; and in your patience godliness; and in your godliness love of the brethren; and in your love of the brethren love.' The Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: 'Love 3 your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.' And the Apostle says: 'Bless 4 them that persecute you: bless, and curse not . . . Render to no man evil for evil . . . . If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. But if thine enemy


1 1 Thess. iii. 12-13. 2 2 Pet. i. 5-7.
3 Matt. v. 44-5. 4 Rom. xii. 14, 17, 18-21.