The sinner and his sin

IT is said that we have to love the sinner but hate the

sin. I suppose that’s simply because what is wrong is sin itself, but

the one who committed it, though he may be guilty of what he did, is

still a brother or a sister of ours whom we have to love and help to

get back to the right way.

            It is easier said than done, of course. What usually

happens is that we are easily overtaken by our feelings and emotions

and, in a sense, throw the baby with the bath water. That is, while we

hate the sin for the inconvenience, damage and other evils it causes,

we end up hating the sinner also. This is a very common phenomenon.

            We have to find ways of distinguishing the sinner from the

sin. But the basis for this effort to keep loving the sinner in spite

of his sins is the example of Christ. We need to meditate often on the

life and death of Christ, because it is where we are shown how to love

the sinner while hating the sin.

            And the example of Christ is clearly that of proclaiming

the truth about what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, and of

offering forgiveness for everyone, even if the requirements of justice

were not fully met yet. Anyway, with what we owe Christ, we can never

fully fulfill the requirements of justice.

            This is something we have to learn as early as possible.

We just have to deepen our knowledge of what is right and wrong, what

is good and evil, and conform our life to it as best as we can. And

then like Christ, let us be quick to forgive, or at least, to offer

forgiveness, just as we have to be quick to ask for forgiveness if we

are ones in the wrong.

            Of course, we should also be interested in living as best

as we could the requirements of justice among ourselves. But we should

also realize that no matter how much we try to live justice, we can

never have it perfectly. And the last word we have to give is that of

mercy. Mercy is the ultimate expression of justice.

            Like Christ, we have to be willing to bear the burdens of

the others. That’s precisely what St. Paul said in his Letter to the

Galatians. “Carry each other’s burdens,” he said, “and in this way you

will fulfill the law of Christ.” (6,2)

            Yes, Christ just bore all our sins to save us, to bring us

back to where we came from and to whom we belong—God.  He just had to

forego the requirements of justice to reconcile us with God. That was

why he just kept silent when he was tried and sentenced to death in

the most unfair trial of all times. He did it to save us.

            That is the attitude we ought to have when we are faced

with the sins of men. While sins will always be sins and ought to be

condemned, we have to do everything, including foregoing justice and

just handing mercy, to save the sinner.

            We may even have to find excuses for the sinner who can be

ourselves too. Not only that, we can and should take the initiative to

bring the sinner back to the right path, even if that effort would

meet resistance and hostility.

            In other words, let’s have the magnanimity of Christ, his

heart that is full of love and compassion. Otherwise, if we just get

stuck with our concern for justice, we will never end in our

wrangling, our quarreling, our animosities, etc.

            Remember, the sinner is still our brother or sister. He or

she is still a child of God.