o root it out of our own hearts and lives; for while we are bad
ourselves we cannot make others good. But if we go on doing bad and
wrong things, are we fighting on Christ's side? No, we are fighting on
the devil's side, and helping the devil against God.

Do you fancy that I am saying too much? I suspect some do. I suspect
some say in their hearts, "He is too hard on us. _We_ are not like that
traitorous soldier. If an English soldier went over to the enemy, and
fought against the English, and killed Englishmen, _that_ of course would
be too bad; but we do not wish to harm any one, much less our neighbours.
If we do wrong, it is ourselves at most that we harm. If we do wrong, it
is only we that shall suffer for it. Why does he talk as if we were
robbers or murderers, or had a spite against our neighbours? We do not
wish to hurt any one, we do not want to help the devil."

Now, my friends, if any of you say that, do you not say first what is not
true? and next do you not know that it is not true?

First, It is not true that by doing wrong you hurt no one but yourself.
Every wrong thing which any man does, every wrong way into which he runs,
is certain sooner or later to hurt his neighbours. The worse man a man
is, the worse for those who have to do with him. You know it is your own
case. You know that bad people hurt you, and make you unhappy; and that
good people do you good and make you happy. You know that bad example
does you harm and good example does you good. Think for yourselves--use
your own common sense. Recollect what you know, what has happened to you
again and again. You know that if any one uses bad language before you,
you are tempted to use bad language too. If any one quarrels with you,
you are tempted to quarrel with him. You know that if parents do wrong
things before their children, the children learn to copy them. It is
nonsense to talk of a man keeping his sins to himself. No man does, and
no man can. Out of the abundance of a man's heart his mouth speaks; and
a bad tree will bring forth bad fruit. If there are bad thoughts in your
head, they will come out in bad words. If there are bad tempers in your
heart, they will come out in bad and unkind and dishonest actions. You
may as well try to keep in fire, as to keep in sin. It will break out,
and it will burn whatever it touches. And if you, or I, or any one does
wrong in any thing, we shall surely hurt some one or other by