"And on earth peace" they sang. Men had been quarrelling and
fighting then, and men are quarrelling and fighting now. That little
babe in the manger was come to show them how and why they were all to
be at peace with each other. For what causes all the war and
quarrelling in the world, but selfishness? Selfishness breeds pride,
passion, spite, revenge, covetousness, oppression. The strong care
for themselves, and try to help themselves at the expense of the
weak, by force and tyranny; the weak care for themselves in their
turn, and try to help themselves at the expense of the strong, by
cunning and cheating. No one will condescend, give way, sacrifice
his own interest for his neighbour's, and hence come wars between
nations, quarrels in families, spite and grudges between neighbours.
But in the example of that little child of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ
the Lord, God was saying to men, "Acquaint yourselves with Me, and be
at peace." God is not selfish; it is our selfishness which has made
us unlike God. God so loved the sinful world, that He gave His only-
begotten Son for it. Is that an action like ours? The Son of God so
obeyed His Father, and so loved this world, that He made Himself of
no reputation, and took on Him the likeness of a slave, and became
obedient to death, even to the most fearful and shameful of all
deaths, the death of the cross; not for Himself, but for those who
did not know Him, hated Him, killed Him. In short, He sacrificed
Himself for us. That is God's likeness. Self-sacrifice. Jesus
Christ, the babe of Bethlehem, proved Himself the Son of God, and the
express likeness of the Father, by sacrificing Himself for us.
Sacrifice yourselves then for each other! Give up your own pride,
your own selfishness, your own interest for each other, and you will
be all at peace at once.