The stream generally starts at home and in the school. Parents are
woefully lax in their condemnation and punishment of the sin of
stealing. The child begins by taking sugar, it may be. The mother
makes light of it at first, and the child's conscience is violated
without any sense of wrong. By and by it is not an easy matter to
check the habit, because it grows and multiplies with every new
commission.
The value of the thing that is stolen has nothing to say to the guilt
of the act. Two people were once arguing upon this point, and one
said: "Well, you will not contend that a theft of a pin and of a
dollar are the same to God?" "When you tell me the difference between
the value of a pin and of a dollar to God," said the other, "I will
answer your question."
The value or amount is not what is to be considered, but whether the
act is _right_ or _wrong_. Partial obedience is not enough: obedience
must be entire. The little indulgences, the small transgressions are
what drive religion out of the soul. They lay the foundation for the
grosser sins. If you give way to little temptations, you will not be
able to resist when great temptations come to you.