nd lose the soul?
What is the profit?

Some have thought the soul question a question of the next world only,
but it is a question of this world also; some have thought the soul
question a Sabbath-day question only, but it is a week-day question as
well; some have thought the soul question a question for the ministers
alone, but it is a question which we all must meet. Every day and every
week, every month and every year, from the time we reach the period of
accountability until we die, we--each of us--all of us, weigh the soul.

And exactly in proportion as we put the soul above all things else we
build character; the moment we allow the soul to become a matter of
merchandise, we start on the downward way.

Tolstoy says that if you would investigate the career of a criminal it
is not sufficient to begin with the commission of a crime; that you must
go back to that day in his life when he deliberately trampled upon his
conscience and did that which he knew to be wrong. And so with all of
us, the turning point in the life is the day when we surrender the soul
for something that for the time being seems more desirable.

Most of the temptations that come to us to sell the soul come in
connection with the getting of money. The Bible says, "The love of
money is the root of all evil." If I had been making the statement,
I think I would have said that the love of money is the root of
_nearly_ all evil. But that is probably due to the fact that I am
so conservative in thought and in method of statement, that, in
stating a proposition, I prefer to leave a margin, so that if
anybody disputes it I can bring proof of more than I said. But
the Bible says, "The love of money is the root of _all_ evil"
and I shall not attempt to weaken the statement. If it is a mistake
at all it is so slight a mistake that we need not spend time in
correcting it.

And because so many of our temptations come through the love of money
and the desire to obtain it, it is worth while to consider the laws
of accumulation. We must all have money; we need food and clothing
and shelter, and money is necessary for the purchase of these things.
Money is not an evil in itself--money is, in fact, a very useful
servant. It is bad only when it becomes the master, and the love of
it is hurtful only because it can, and often does, crowd out the love
of nobler things.

But since we must all use money and must in our active days store up
money for the days when