March 18

For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.—I SAM. xvi, 7.

Dare we condemn the ills that others do?

Dare we condemn?

Their strength is small, their trials not a few;

The tide of wrong is difficult to stem,

And if to us more clearly than to them

Is given knowledge of the good and true,

More do they need our help, and pity too.

Dare we condemn?

God help us all, and lead us day by day!

God help us all!

We cannot walk alone the narrow way;

Evil allures us, and we fall.

We are but human and our strength is small.

Not one of us may boast, and not a day

Rolls o'er our heads but each has need to say

God help us all!

In every life there are mistakes and sins. The holiest do not live perfectly. The strongest are liable to fall in sudden and unexpected temptation. The wisest will commit grave errors and follies at some time. We should know well in such cases how to deal with our sins. They must not be simply self-condoned and left lying in the path behind us while we hurry on, nor must they bring despair to our hearts as we sorrow over them; they must be sincerely and heartily repented of, and forgiveness for them sought at the feet of Him we have offended and grieved. Then we must rise from disaster and defeat, stronger, purer, nobler, through Christ victorious over our own sins and a conqueror over our own defeat.