Don’t hate the sinner, because we are all more or less guilty. And if you accidentally, for the grace of God, turn against him, you better mourn him. And why do you hate him? Maybe you hate his sins? But you have to pray for him, so that you become like Christ, Who did not object against the sinners, but rather prayed for them. Don’t you see how He cried for Jerusalem? We too, often get humiliated by the devil for many of our sins. Why then do we hate the one who has been humiliated, just we like have been deceived many times by the devil who lures us? Why, my man, you hate the sinner, just because he is not “righteous” like you? And where is your “righteousness” when you have no love? And if you have love, why don’t you sooner cry for him, rather than judge him? There are some who are driven by ignorance and revolt, thinking that in this way they demonstrate “prudence” over the deeds of the sinners. In spite of all this, you become a preacher of the goodness of God; for though you are a sinner, God guides you lovingly, and although you have a great debt for your sins, God does not judge you, but even for the smallest act of kindness you do, he gives you great rewards…
Excerpt from the book: Ἰσάακ τοῦ Σύρου, Τὰ σωζόμενα ἀσκητικά, Θεσσαλονίκη 1995 (φωτοτυπικὴ ἀνατύπωσις τῆς ἐκδόσεως 1871), Λόγος 60ος.
