If the praise of others elates me and their blame depresses me; if I cannot rest under misunderstandin g without defending myself; if I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
Interpretation
True love involves selflessness and understanding, rather than seeking approval or praise from others.
In this quote, Amy Carmichael emphasizes the essence of Calvary love, which is selfless and unconditional. She suggests that if our emotions are greatly influenced by the opinions and judgments of others, or if we prefer to receive love rather than give it, we have yet to grasp the depth of self-sacrificial love exemplified by Christ on Calvary.
In practice
In a speech about relationships, one might quote this to highlight the importance of unconditional love.
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.
Men like women who write. Even though they don't say so. A writer is a foreign country.
That best portion of a man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
The hardest times to choose love become the very times that you can most grow spiritually.
I love people. When you're engaged with society and trying to make it a better society, you're an optimist.
As Dostoevski said: 'Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams.
No matter how many times she was told that she was loved, there was no recognition that the proof was in the abandonment.
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