Ruling by Love

In the little country district where I went to school there were two parties. One party said that boys could not possibly be controlled without the cane, and they kept a schoolmaster who acted on their plan; the other party said they should be controlled by love. The struggle went on, and at last, on one election day, the first party was put out, and the other ruled in their stead. I happened to be at the school at that time, and we said to each other that we were going to have a grand time that winter.

There would be no more corporal punishment, and we were going to be ruled by love. The new teacher was a lady, and she opened the school with prayer. We hadn’t seen it done before, and we were impressed, especially when she prayed that she might have grace and strength to rule the school with love.

The school went on for several weeks, and we saw no cane. I was one of the first to break the rules of the school. The teacher asked me to stay behind. I thought the cane was coming out again, and I was in a fighting mood.

She took me alone. She sat down and began to talk to me kindly. That was worse than the cane; I did not like it. She said— “I have made up my mind that if I cannot control the school by love, I will give it up.

I will have no punishment. If you love me, try to keep the rules of the school.” I felt something rise in my throat, and never gave her any more trouble. She just put me under grace.

And that is what God does. God is love, and He wants us all to love Him.