p. 7 | The Test of Character by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 12, 1911

The Test of Character

By F. M. W.

THE real test of character is in the little things of life. History affords many illustrations of men who stood in some great crisis, but who went down before the smaller trials which entered their experiences. It requires a higher standard of honesty to refrain from misappropriating one dollar, when the theft perhaps would not be known, or if known, would be overlooked, than wrongly to appropriate ten thousand dollars.

The real test of faithfulness is in the use of the little things of life. The Saviour teaches this principle when he says, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”

But little danger threatens the Christian disciple in temptation to steal, to take human life, or to destroy his neighbor’s property; but every human heart is constantly tempted in the small things of life. If we are not tempted to slander our neighbor, we are tempted many times to misjudge his motives; if we are not tempted to steal, how often are we beset by envy of those better conditioned than ourselves!

The suggestion to indulge in the grosser forms of Sabbath violation may not appeal to our minds with sensible force; but in the little things of human experience, how many times do we find our own pleasure, and speak our own words on God’s holy day! We would not enter a court of justice, and deliberately take an oath to that which we knew to be false; but how sorely tempted we are sometimes to equivocate and misrepresent the real facts, fearing that a frank statement would bring criticism upon ourselves! We look with loathing upon the grosser forms of intemperance, and would consider it a great disgrace to be found under the influence of intoxicating drinks; but how often do we violate the principle of temperance in overeating, or in partaking of foods which minister in some degree to the results produced by the grosser forms of this vice!

Nothing could induce us to put forth our hands and take that which is not our own; but how often are we tempted in business relations to drive sharp bargains, and how negligent we are sometimes in the payment of just debts and obligations! The man who refrains from paying a debt when it is within his power to do so, manifests in his life the same principle which actuates the thief. We would not think of entering the home of a neighbor, and scolding his wife or children; and yet how many times are we tempted, and sometimes to the yielding point, to manifest this spirit in our own homes!

We need to give diligent heed to the little things in our experience. There is danger that we shall seek to lift our heads among the stars, seeking to contemplate the achievement of some great deed or the heroism we would manifest in imaginary crises, while our feet trample upon the flowers on earth, and we fail to recognize the ways and opportunities which God has brought into our lives for the perfection of the Christian character and the exhibition of the Christian spirit.

Let us be true to God in the great conflict in which we are engaged, always remembering that loyalty and faithfulness have their foundation in our daily, personal experience, and that we can be true in a great crisis only as we are true day by day and step by step through life’s journey. F. M. W.