Think gently of the erring;
You know not of the power
With which the dark temptation came
In some unguarded hour;
You may not know how earnestly
They struggled, or how well,
Until the hour of weakness came
And sadly thus they fell.
Think gently of the erring;
Oh, do not now forget
However darkly stained by sin,
He is your brother yet;
Heir of the self-same heritage,
Child of the self-same God.
He has but stumbled in the path
Which you in weakness trod.
Speak gently to the erring;
You yet may lead them back,
With holy words and tones of love,
From misery's thorny track;
Forget not you have sometimes sinned,
And sinful yet may be;
Deal gently with the erring, then,
As God has dealt with thee.
by Julia A. Carney (1860's)
You know not of the power
With which the dark temptation came
In some unguarded hour;
You may not know how earnestly
They struggled, or how well,
Until the hour of weakness came
And sadly thus they fell.
Think gently of the erring;
Oh, do not now forget
However darkly stained by sin,
He is your brother yet;
Heir of the self-same heritage,
Child of the self-same God.
He has but stumbled in the path
Which you in weakness trod.
Speak gently to the erring;
You yet may lead them back,
With holy words and tones of love,
From misery's thorny track;
Forget not you have sometimes sinned,
And sinful yet may be;
Deal gently with the erring, then,
As God has dealt with thee.
by Julia A. Carney (1860's)
