Labels.

It is easy to categorize people as good or bad.
Usually, of course, we are good and they are bad.

We write people off.
We label them bad and abrogate any responsibility to care for them or help them.

But God's way is different.
God does not reject people as bad.
He loves them also and helps them if they call on Him.

There is no class of human being who is lost or damned.
God loves us all.

That is why we are to love our enemies and pray for our abusers.
Because no one is condemned.

So, instead of writing people off as bad, we should be helping those who do not conform to our idea of goodness.
We should give them aid and pray for them.

Who is to say that we know what is good in any case.
Quite often our ideas of moral superiority are misguided.
We are no better than sinners.

Each human being is worthy in his or her own right.

"'There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.'"  Luke 15:7 (NRSV)


(Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.)