\u201cLet us do good unto all.\u201d \u2014 Galatians 6:10<\/p>\n
In one of the bedrooms of a certain Christian home there hangs a little card which bears the words: THE SECRET OF JOY \u2014 God first, Others next, Self last. Is this indeed the secret of joy? Then most of us are sadly wrong. We think that joy comes by the reverse order; and it is this mistake which lies behind the worship of wealth, the passion for power, and the pursuit of pleasure. Verily we are wrong, as we surely discover sooner or later. The first secret of joy lies in otherism \u2014 a going out of one\u2019s heart toward others. Egoism is the supreme enemy of true joy. By many providences God seeks to break our egoism down. Indeed, the very relationships which condition human family life are designed to that end. John Oxenham thus beautifully puts it:<\/p>\n
I, Thou, We, They,
\n Small words, but mighty, in their span
\n Are bound the life and hopes of man.
\n For first his thoughts of his own self are full,
\n Until another comes his heart to rule;
\n For them life\u2019s best is centred round their love
\n To younger lives come all their love to prove.<\/p>\n
The parental relationships of life are meant to break our egoism down. Henry Drummond says, \u201cA man cannot be a member of a family, and remain an utter egoist.\u201d \u201cNo greater day ever dawned than that on which the first human child was born.\u201d Certainly the mother teaches the child; but in a far deeper way, is it not the child who teaches the mother? \u2014 and the little one teaches nothing sublimer than just this very thing \u2014 otherism.<\/p>\n
OTHERISM! The supreme transition in a human heart is that from \u201cselfism\u201d to \u201cotherism\u201d. \u201cOne man,\u201d says an old Latin proverb, \u201cis no man at all.\u201d A Wayside Pulpit has it: \u201cA man wrapped up in himself makes a very small parcel!\u201d A life which is always getting and never giving is a Dead Sea. The Lord Jesus says. \u201cExcept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone\u201d \u2014 self-preservation the cause of loneliness! Then He adds, \u201cBut if it die it bringeth forth much fruit\u201d \u2014 self-sacrifice the cure of loneliness!<\/p>\n
OTHERISM! Let the word burn into the mind. Like a flame shot into a dark room it suddenly exposes our fundamental error. Like the white flame of a forge let it strike into the thick rust of our selfishness. Oh, if we could but believe it, if we would but receive it, the first secret of true joy lie\u2019s just here. We miss joy because we seek it! Is not the very seeking of joy for its own sake a subtle form of selfishness? \u2014 and is not selfishness the very thing that kills joy? Joy is a will-o\u2019-the-wisp to those who run after it; but in some self-forgetting hour when we are touched by another\u2019s need, and we sacrifice to give relief, we suddenly find our hearts aflame with a glorious joy that has come unsought! It is thus that we come to know a like joy to that of our dear Lord. In self-sacrificing service for others we discern the marks of His sandals, and follow in the steps of His example, and share His joy. Must we roam afar to end glory? Nay, the secret of pure joy lies behind our own doors, in otherism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cLet us do good unto all.\u201d \u2014 Galatians 6:10 In one of the bedrooms of a certain Christian home there hangs a little card which bears the words: THE SECRET OF JOY \u2014 God first, Others next, Self last. Is this indeed the secret of joy? Then most of us are sadly wrong. We think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[184,4596,4104,4209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}