He that watereth shall be watered also himself. Proverbs chapter 11 verse 25.

We are here taught the great lesson that to get we must give, that to accumulate we must scatter, that to make ourselves happy we must make others happy, and that in order to become spiritually vigorous we must seek the spiritual good of others. In watering others we are ourselves watered.

How? Our efforts to be useful bring out our powers for usefulness. We have latent talents and dormant faculties which are brought to light by exercise. Our strength for labor is hidden even from ourselves until we venture forth to fight the Lord's battles or to climb the mountains of difficulty.

We do not know what tender sympathies we possess until we try to dry the widow's tears and soothe the orphan's grief. We often find, in attempting to teach others, that we gain instruction for ourselves. Oh, what gracious lessons some of us have learned at sickbeds! We went to teach the scriptures, we came away blushing that we knew so little of them.

In our converse with poor saints, we are taught the way of God more perfectly for ourselves, and get a deeper insight into divine truth, so that watering others makes us humble. We discover how much grace there is where we had not looked for it, and how much the poor saint may outstrip us in knowledge.

Our own comfort is also increased by our working for others. We endeavor to cheer them, and the consolation gladdens our own heart. Like the two men in the snow, one chafed the other's limbs to keep him from dying, and in so doing kept his own blood in circulation and saved his own life. The poor widow of Sarepta gave from her scanty store a supply for the prophet's wants, and from that day she never again knew what want was.

Give then, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and running over.