It’s amazing how people (and fictional characters) show you who they really are.

It’s human nature to assume that we can let little things slide and not hold ourselves to account for them–to tell ourselves that they don’t matter.

We all do this, at least from time to time.

The truth is, as I’ve heard Peter Kreeft describe it: “sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Reap a habit, sow a character.”

It’s the little things that make us who we are. It’s the little things that prepare us for the bigger things.

If we are not good, honest, faithful, or trustworthy in small matters, we will NOT have developed the virtue to be faithful or honest in bigger matters, when they come our way. We will not be prepared for the big things.

The same is true for our characters. This is why, in fiction, a scene that shows a character being kind or gentle in a simple, small thing can be so powerful in terms of character development. (The same goes for a character being unnecessarily nasty.)

Readers understand that this is revealing who that character really is. They understand that the small things show us for who we are.

Of course, we all have off moments and bad days. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about recognizing the importance of the small things, of building a foundation of integrity in our character, so that when our character is tested in a bigger way, with grace we might pass.