Temperance is true self-government. It involves the grace of self-denial and the spirit of a sound mind. It is that poise of spirit that holds us quiet, self-possessed, composed, deliberate and subject to the voice of God and the conviction of duty in every step we take. Many persons do not have that poise and serenity. They are drifting at the impulse of their own impressions and moods, the influence of others or the circumstances around them. No desire should ever control us. No purpose, however right, should have such mastery over us that we are not perfectly free. Our pure affection may be an inordinate affection. Our work itself may be a selfish passion. That thing that we began to do because it was God's will we may cling to and persist in, ultimately, because it is our own will. Lord, give us a spirit ever controlled by Thy Spirit and will and the eye that looks to Thee every moment as the eyes of a maiden to the hands of her mistress (Psalm 123:2). So shall Thy service be our perfect freedom, and our subjection divinest liberty.
