The Moral Hero by T. Starr King

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 31, 1874

The Moral Hero.

By T. Starr King

It is easier to fulfill the greatest than the smallest task. It is easier to perform the moral deed which the world must witness than to crush the small temptation which comes in our private hours, inviting to a little sin which the world can never know. He is the moral hero—how few who can challenge the title!—who can resist the almost harmless impulse of selfishness like that which prompted the mind of Christ to turn the stones to bread; who can go through the day and feel that he has been faithful to every moment, and has lived in Christian relations with every man whom he has met. And, therefore, small duties are the real test of power. You cannot know a man's temper in company; see him at home. You cannot infer his benevolence from his public charities and large subscriptions; watch his intercourse with the poor. It is the frequent gifts,—yes, it is the manner of giving more than the charity, the sweet expression, the cordial sympathy, the tone of kindness, which make the penny of more value than the coldly given pound; it is these, and the frequency of these, that determine the purity and love of a person's soul.—T. Starr King.