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“the definition which the scripture gives us love is this: love is the bond of perfection. first, it is a bond, or ligament. it makes the work perfect. there is no body but consists of parts and that which knits these parts together gives the body its perfection, because it makes each part so contiguous to the other as thereby they do mutually participate with each other, both in strength and infirmity, in pleasure and pain. In the most perfect of all bodies, christ and his church make one body: the several parts of this body considered apart before they were united were as disproportionate and as much disordering as so many contrary qualities or elements, but when christ comes and by his spirit and love knits all these parts to himself and each to the other, it is become the most perfect and best proportioned body in the world.” a model of christian charity - john winthrop