Be True! - A Few Words to the Confirmed Youth (1890)

By the grace of God, be true.

First published in 1890, Be True! is a remembrance of Confirmation Day written for young Lutherans who have just made their public confession of Christ. Its refrain is a single charge: by the grace of God, be true.

Three loyalties give the book its shape. The chapters on parents move from the fourth commandment to cheerful service at home, vocation, the call to the ministry, and the choice of a life partner.

The Church section is specifically Evangelical Lutheran, with chapters on attending services and Sunday-school, never neglecting Holy Communion, supporting the congregation, and remembering the solemn promise made at the altar. The final loyalty turns inward to the daily Christian disciplines: keep thyself pure, avoid profanity, beware of gambling and drinking, confess Christ, be prayerful, and read your Bible.

Scripture runs through every page, with hymn verses gathering each chapter into song. A primary source for nineteenth-century American Lutheran devotional literature and the steady devotional voice of the Lutheran tradition.