1 Think gently of the erring one;
And let us not forget,
However darkly stained by sin,
He is our brother yet.
2 Heir of the same inheritance,
Child of the selfsame God,
He hath but stumbled in the path
We have in weakness trod.
3 Forget not, thou hast often sinned,
And sinful yet may’st be;
Deal gently with the erring heart,
As God has dealt with thee.
Amen.
Source: The Hymnal of The Evangelical United Brethren Church #381
First Line: | Think gently of the erring one, O let us not forget |
Title: | Deal Gently, With the Erring |
Author: | Mrs. T. J. Carney |
Language: | English |
Refrain First Line: | Deal gently, deal gently |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Think gently of the erring [one]. [Gentleness.] This hymn is given in the American Universalist's Hymns for Christian Devotion, by Adams and Chapin, Boston, 1846, No. 813, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed “Compassion for the Sinning." It is there given as by "Miss Fletcher," a writer to us otherwise unknown. It is in the awkward metre of 7.6.8.6.8.6.8.6. As usually found in modern American hymnbooks it is in CM. as given in H. W. Beecher's Plymouth Collection, 1855, No. 1062, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines; but sometimes with the omission of stanza iii.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)