| Things to Live For |
Chapter 5 |
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Of course no disparagement is cast on the active forms of Christian usefulness and service. There is a place for all of them, and all of them are needed to make the life of the world complete. Some must give their large gifts to build churches, asylums, and homes for the aged, the orphan, and the poor. Some must preach the gospel in eloquent words, to tell the lost of the great love of God, and the wonderful sacrifice of Jesus Christ for men’s salvation. Some must least in the service of praise, and fulfill the rich ministry of song. There is a place in God’s church for the fullest exercise of every form of gift, – the finest, the most brilliant, and the most conspicuous. Those who have been endowed with qualities for public service, or for doing the great tings of the kingdom, are highly favored of God – and as their gifts are, so is their responsibility.
But even in the case of those who serve the world in these active ways, it is the quiet influence of personality that gives to acts and services their greatest value. What a man is measures the worth of what he does. His character means more as a factor in his usefulness than do his deeds.
“No good is certain but the steadfast mind,
The undivided will to seek the good;
‘Tis that compels the elements, and wrings
A human music from the indifferent air.
The greatest gift a hero leaves his race
Is to have been a hero.”
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