James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits… Far from being savage, unrelenting, or cruel, it feels the Godlike impressions of pity and compassion towards every proper object, the unfortunate and the miserable; it is touched with a strong sense of the miseries of human nature; it cannot but weep with those that weep, and commiserate and assist the indigent and the distressed; it is not content to afford them the cheap offer of mere verbal pity only, of the eye or of the tongue, but will add the real and substantial one of actual aid in proportion to their wants and its own ability; it will not only be full of mercy but full of good fruits likewise. By which last expression we may observe how valuable these works of mercy are in the sight of God, when He who is the blessed author and adorable fountain of all good calls them good; good by way of eminence, not indeed the only way of doing good, yet a principal one, a way most acceptable to Him, most beneficial to man, good in its nature, in its principle, in its fruits and consequences, good to those who receive, and superlatively good to those who truly and religiously practice it. (Wm. Thorold, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. |
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