Self-denial, a Christian Virtue – Charles Spurgeon

HE WHO wears the herb heart’s-ease in his bosom is richer than he who can wear diamonds upon his fingers, if those fingers be stained with guilt. It is comparatively easy to be correct and upright when these things pay, when we can by them secure the esteem of our fellow men, and that confidence which is as good as money to a man in business, because of the credit it brings with it. But it is quite another thing to do the right when it means to strip oneself of all, and to give up long-loved and cherished possessions, hopes, and prospects, both for ourselves and family. This is the hour of temptation, when Satan comes with his glory and wealth in one hand, and a suggestion of evil in the other, and bids us open our lap to receive them, reminding us that to deny him is to close with injury and loss to reputation, to our business, and to our loved families at home. How many have made the dread compact with the Prince of Darkness! They have gained the world but lost their soul. They have sold their birthright for a mess of pottage, and bartered Heaven for Hell; time has been taken and eternity rejected. The honor of men has been esteemed more than the praise of God; they have grasped the gold and it has been a mill-stone round their neck, and into the deepest depths of woe it has dragged them, lost! lost! lost forever!