The Greatest Thing in the World

Resource Description

Full Review:

This little classic is an exposition of 1 Corinthians 13. Its introduction was written by D.L. Moody:

I was staying with a party of friends in a country house during my visit to England in 1884. On Sunday evening as we sat around the fire they asked me to read and expound some portion of Scripture. Being tired after the services of the day, I told them to ask Henry Drummond, who was one of the party. After some urging he drew a small Testament from his hip pocket, opened it to the 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians, and began to speak on the subject of love.

It seemed to me that I had never heard anything so beautiful, and I determined not to rest until I brought Henry Drummond to Northfield to deliver that address. Since then I have requested the principals of my schools to have it read before the students every year. The one great need in our Christian life is love, more love to God and to each other. Would that we could all move into that Love chapter and live there.

The Author

Henry Drummond, born in Scotland in 1851, was a man of varied talents. He is best remembered as a gifted evangelist, but he was also a lecturer in natural science at the University of Edinburgh. Over 12 million copies of this 62 page book have been sold, and it continues to influence people to this day to love God and to love one another.

Of course, we can’t learn to love others by reading a book, no matter how good it is, but just the same I recommend you take an hour some Sunday afternoon to read prayerfully this little work that has touched the lives of so many Christians over the decades.

What I enjoyed most in the book was Drummond’s “analysis of love” from I Corinthians 13:4-7. I appreciated his emphasis on learning to love through being with people. Yes, love is a fruit of the Spirit, but we learn to learn to love as Christ loved us in the trenches of life. He quotes Goethe’s words, “Talent develops itself in solitude; character in the stream of life.”

HG

P.S. If you don’t have access to this book, you can read it online. Just google “The Greatest Thing in the World pdf.”