The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-11-23

THE TRUE MOTlVE OF LIFE.

It Gives All That Anything Else viii and
the Heart BESIDES.
Not long ago ! heard on public oc-
casiou a very earnest and eloquent adj
dress by a faithful and efficient minis
ter of the Gospel. who began with the
foundation principle that the true mo-
tiYe OF right living is an over-mastering
sense of duty. heard him with great
interest, and silently yielded assent to
almost all of his conclusions, and felt
myself greatly moved by his appeals;
but I went away feeling that the result
he sought with his audience was great
lv weakened by the radical defect of
his premises.
A sense of duty is indeed a master
power for good. Many a weak arm it
nerves, many tagging step it quicllens.
many a struggling life it ennobles
Often has it prompted to heroic self
sacrifice; and many a noble man has
done life-worll remembered by gem
erations after him with admiration and
thankfulness, because duty led the
way, and he followed after 1t arouses
enthusiasm, with singleness of purpose
can plod through years unrecognized,
climb hills Of difficulty insurmountable
to ordinary effort, and find sufficient
repayment at last in duty alone. Sim
ply for duty men and women have gone
bravely to the stake and the scatfold,
not counting their lives dear unto them
selves. Is there a higher motive than
this which prompts such living and
| such self-renunciation?
just one. The true motive of the true
life is love. Duty-doing is manly, and
often heroic; true love is Divine, and
always sanity. A man may conquer
inclination and do duty in spite of him
self, but what he does for love he does
with all his heart as well as with all his
| might, and SO is doubly strong. Duty
drives, but love draws. Duty says 81
! must" love says Il will" Both are
| CONSTANTS, but the one is from outside
and the other within the heart. Duty
shows the rugged way and says 60"
love looks above and beyond it all, and
| says; Dear Lord, come"
Love is the highest motive, for it is
the one required by both the Law and
the Gospel, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and thy
neighbor as myself" that is the divine
Law motive. Lowest thou me? Feed
my sheep; do my work." that is the
Gospel motive. Noble as it is, devotion
to duty may be heather virtue; love
in its true sense is a Christian grace.
Love is a stronger motive. 1t gives
more than effort, more than self-denial,
more than enthusiasm, more than life;
| it gives all of these when occasion calls,
and it gives the whole heart besides.
| Love is the diStinctively Christian
motive. 1t is what the Master asks of
all His own, not as sentiment, but as
life principle. 1.-THE love of Christ
, constraineth u.s." that is the confession
of faith which works.
The final appeals for Christian effort,
therefore, should be to the highest
Christian motive, love for Christ, and
love for every good word and work for
Christ's sake. Men may not have the
courage for duty, but love is courage
when it has it's way. TO appeal to
anything. forgetting love for Christ, is
to weaken the appeal and mistake the
true motive. The best way to reach
the depths of the Christian heart is to
say: Let us do what in ms lies for the
love of our Lord and Saviour. y. A.
De Baum, in Christian at Work.