_THE REAL GAINS AND LOSSES_
"_Godliness with contentment is great gain._"
--1 TIMOTHY vi. 6-16.
And so I must go into my heart if I would make a true estimate of my gains
and losses. The calculation is not to be made in my bank-books, or as I
stride over my broad acres, or inspect my well-filled barns. These are the
mere outsides of things, and do not enter into the real balance-sheet of
my life. We can no more estimate the success of a life by methods like
these than we can adjudge an oil-painting by the sense of smell.
What is my stock of godliness? That is one of the test questions. What are
my treasures of contentment? What about peace and joy, and hallowed and
blessed carelessness? How much pure laughter rings in my life? How much
bird-music is heard in the chambers of my heart? Is the note of praise to
be found in the streets of my soul? Am I rich in these things or
pathetically poor? "By these things men live," and therefore of these
things will I make my balance-sheet and reckon up my gains.