“Hate the sin, but not the sinner”

You may be familiar with the phrase and idea to “Hate the sin, but not the sinner,” but this is often easier said than done. When someone sins against us, we would tend to hate that person too, and itch to see his undoing, but what we are blind to is our hypocrisy. We practice this concept of “Hate the sin, love the sinner” with our own selves, but not with others. CS Lewis recognized this hypocrisy in himself, as he wrote, “How can you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life – namely myself.” We easily excuse ourselves for our sins. We justify lying, we give in to pride and lustful fantasies, we hold grudges and give in to fear and worry. Yet, despite these things we continue to love ourselves though we hate the things we do.

Posted in: but not the sinner,Hate the sin