If I do not give a friend "The benefit of the doubt," but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Interpretation
Believing the best in friends is essential to true love and understanding.
The quote emphasizes the importance of giving friends the benefit of the doubt, suggesting that when we interpret their actions negatively instead of positively, we fail to embody the selfless love exemplified by Calvary love. It highlights that true friendship requires trust and a willingness to assume good intentions, rather than jumping to the worst conclusions.
In practice
In a speech about friendship and trust, you might quote this to emphasize the importance of believing in one's friends.
If I am perturbed by the reproach and misunderstanding that may follow action taken for the good of souls for whom I must give account; if I cannot commit the matter and go on in peace and in silence, remembering Gethsemane and the cross, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Thank God for the battle verses in the Bible. We go into the unknown every day of our lives, and especially every Monday morning, for the week is sure to be a battlefield, outwardly and inwardly in the unseen life of the spirit, which is often by far the sternest battlefield for souls. Either way, the Lord your God goes before you, He shall fight for you!
When an answer I did not expect comes to a prayer which I believed I truly meant, I shrink back from it; if the burden my Lord asks me to bear be not the burden of my heart's choice, and I fret inwardly and do not welcome His will, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
If I take offence easily; if I am content to continue in cold unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
If I am content to heal a hurt slightly, saying "Peace, peace," where is no peace; if I forget the poignant word "Let love be without dissimulation" and blunt the edge of truth, speaking not right things but smooth things, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting "Who made thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received?" then I know nothing of Calvary love.
We are one in Christ; let us be friends with one another; but let us never be friends with one another’s error. If I be wrong, rebuke me sternly; I can bear it, and bear it cheerfully; and if ye be wrong, expect the like measure from me, and neither peace nor parley with your mistakes.
We cannot always assure the future of our friends; we have a better chance of assuring our future if we remember who our friends are.
Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness.
It's like being a gym rat, but you're a theater rat, and then that becomes your fraternity house. That becomes your extended family.
Is there any pleasure in anger? Yes, if the fire of my anger appeases the ashes of my friends.
Grant us brotherhood, not only for this day but for all our years - a brotherhood not of words but of acts and deeds.
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