people aren’t the worst thing they’ve done
One teaching fundamentally changed my life.
It was in a commentary on the gospel. I’ve long forgotten which one. Or who wrote it. But they reminded the reader that “leper” isn’t a term of dignity.
They pointed out that a person who has leprosy isn’t defined by their disease. We don’t say that anybody who has or has had cancer is a cancer-er.
But unlike cancer, leprosy was contagious. And it became easy to hate someone because that made it easy to isolate them.
Granting someone with leprosy the dignity of being a person first and foremost is generous. And valuable.
The same can be said for people who sin. Jesus encourages us to see the person, the dignity, and the possibility of redemption.