True Motive in Service
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summer’s parching heat, a line of verdure marks the river’s course; and
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the plain that opened her bosom to bear the mountain’s treasure to the
sea is clothed with freshness and beauty, a witness to the recompense
that God’s grace imparts to all who give themselves as a channel for
its outflow to the world.
This is the blessing of those who show mercy to the poor. The
prophet Isaiah says, “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that
thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest
the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from
thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and
thine health shall spring forth speedily.... And the Lord shall guide
thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought: ... and thou shalt be
like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail
not.”
Isaiah 58:7-11
.
The work of beneficence is twice blessed. While he that gives
to the needy blesses others, he himself is blessed in a still greater
degree. The grace of Christ in the soul is developing traits of character
that are the opposite of selfishness,—traits that will refine, ennoble,
and enrich the life. Acts of kindness performed in secret will bind
hearts together, and will draw them closer to the heart of Him from
whom every generous impulse springs. The little attentions, the small
acts of love and self-sacrifice, that flow out from the life as quietly as
the fragrance from a flower—these constitute no small share of the
blessings and happiness of life. And it will be found at last that the
denial of self for the good and happiness of others, however humble
and uncommended here, is recognized in heaven as the token of our
union with Him, the King of glory, who was rich, yet for our sake
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became poor.
The deeds of kindness may have been done in secret, but the result
upon the character of the doer cannot be hidden. If we work with
wholehearted interest as a follower of Christ, the heart will be in close
sympathy with God, and the Spirit of God, moving upon our spirit,
will call forth the sacred harmonies of the soul in answer to the divine
touch.
He who gives increased talents to those who have made a wise
improvement of the gifts entrusted to them is pleased to acknowledge
the service of His believing people in the Beloved, through whose
grace and strength they have wrought. Those who have sought for the