Do Not Hate Him Who is Sick with Sin

“It is not good to get angry, but if this should happen, the Apostle does not allow you a whole day for this passion, for he says: ‘Let not the sun go down (Eph 4.25).’ Will you wait till all your time is ended? Why hate the man who has grieved you? It is not he who has done he wrong, but the devil. Hate sickness but not the sick person.” Saying 13 of Amma Syncletica in Sayings of The Desert Fathers by Benedicta Ward.

We should take great pains not to conflate the sickness of sin with the sinner themselves. If we see our brother or sister ailing with sickness, we would do better to cover their sins than to be angry with them or expose them to those around us. Pray for those who persecute you.