We | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 17, 1863

"We."

"WE" is a very convenient pronoun. It is used by kings, emperors, editors, preachers, and backsliders, as a pronoun of the first person.

"We do not any of us do as we ought."

"We are all unfaithful."

"We do not any of us accomplish as much as we might."

Why is it that it is so much easier for a man to confess the sins of the whole church than to confess his own?

Why is it that men say "I" when they tell of good things done, and "we" when they speak of backsliding, unfaithfulness, and sin?

Men say, "We all love the world too well," but will they own that they are sinful in this respect? Why is it so much easier to say, "we are sinners," than it is to say, "I am a sinner?"

Why is it so much easier to say, "We love the world and ought to repent," than it is to say, "I love the world, I need salvation?"

Suppose we say "we" when we speak of doing good things, and I when we confess our sins, and faults, and follies.

Many a woman will confess all the sins in the neighborhood except her own. Many a man will tell of all the faults in the church members but his own. Persons tell their own righteousness and their neighbors' sins.

Suppose we reverse this order, and tell of our own sins and of other persons' righteousness. Tell our own faults, and leave our excellences to others. "Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth." "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed."

God help us to be honest and Christ-like. Amen.—Sel.