Do you ever get steaming angry at people who make poor judgments or mistakes?

The anger may feel wholly justified, because after all, the human mind reasons, “They screwed up, and I don’t like it! They deserve to suffer for their error and I need to make sure they do.” And out pour the condemnations, criticisms, and retribution.

But is this the way Jesus Christ taught? Not hardly.

Jesus certainly pointed out error, mistakes and sin, but he didn’t return evil for evil. He loved the sin out of the evil doer, and left his example for us to follow.

When another errs, it’s not a call upon us to err too, just in a different form. If we get uncontrollably angry, resentful, even spiteful, we are in error as much as the person we blame. Then it becomes, “Who is the biggest sinner?” And that’s not a place we want to go.

It’s more productive to take a healing approach. We can bring a state of mind to the situation that helps the other out of their trouble, rather than pins them deeper into it.

It’s okay to get angry with sin. Evil is evil. There is nothing to love or uphold in base mortality. But God did not create evil people. God created good people.

So when our brothers and sisters err, it’s not a call to condemn them personally, but to take them by the hand and help them out. We can’t do that if we allow ourselves to get embroiled in hatred and malice. Only in love and goodwill can we be a positive influence.

These words of Mary Baker Eddy arrested my attention:

“It is error even to murmur or to be angry over sin.”

She is not advocating ignorance or a blind eye to sin, but the solution to it. Don’t allow another person’s sin to become a promoter of sin in your own thought. Conquer both with a Christ attitude that exposes sin when seen, shows by example how to live rightly, and lifts the sinner to a better place.

Love leads the way…