Love the person; Hate the sin.

edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
When dealing with individuals who are adamant about doing things that are contrary to scripture, as Christians it is important for us to be clear that we love the person but hate the sin that they do.

How can we prove to them that we love them even though we hate what they are doing?

Comments

  • i guess your actions will speak louder then what you say....
    if u show u care by ur action like enquiring about how their going and supporting they will know you care but if there comes a time when you feel your values are being confronted take the challenge but stand firm in you faith....honesty is soo important in friendship but you need to be constructive...just say look i respect you as a person but i cant accept what your doing to yourself.... it depends on the kind of friendship you have....no ones perfect not even christians
  • [quote author=GArgiriadis link=topic=7801.msg101536#msg101536 date=1238902659]
    When dealing with individuals who are adamant about doing things that are contrary to scripture, as Christians it is important for us to be clear that we love the person but hate the sin that they do.

    How can we prove to them that we love them even though we hate what they are doing?


    You can prove this by praying for them.

    Also, in all honesty, and I think Fr Peter may disagree with me, but I really believe that by correcting them - it is a sign of love towards that person.
  • [quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=7801.msg101627#msg101627 date=1239119448]
    [quote author=GArgiriadis link=topic=7801.msg101536#msg101536 date=1238902659]
    When dealing with individuals who are adamant about doing things that are contrary to scripture, as Christians it is important for us to be clear that we love the person but hate the sin that they do.

    How can we prove to them that we love them even though we hate what they are doing?


    You can prove this by praying for them.

    Also, in all honesty, and I think Fr Peter may disagree with me, but I really believe that by correcting them - it is a sign of love towards that person.



    well i think you are skipping one step for that to be successful...you have make them understand their mistake then correct them. speaking in general about the sin with others is always a good idea. then keep speaking untill they actually see themselves amongst those ppl. then with love, correct them.....also you might have to keep up with what they do. the devil will net rest keda we khalas. he'll come back and push this sin to come again.
  • I am not going to disagree with you entirely QT.

    There is sometimes a place to point out others errors. But in my experience such places are limited. We have to struggle not to give way to a false pride, or to drive the other person away from facing their sin.

    It seems to me that one way forward is to accuse ourselves of the sin we wish to raise with others. Not in a sense of 'Oh, I used to be a sinner like you'. But humbly. 'You know I have always struggled with the sin of ...'. It would then be possible to speak about the harm it has done us personally. 'I found I could never make long lasting friendships because I was always being selfish..' And then perhaps, without making overcoming sin sound at all easy, we could share one or two things that changed this for us.

    This seems to me more productive than lecturing others, not that I am suggesting any of us would do that. But sometimes we can sound to the other person like we are.

    If we point out only our own faults and sins then perhaps we have an opening to speak about them. Of course prayer is a prerequisite.

    Father Peter
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