You may have heard the recent story about the inmates in Georgia who saved the life of the correctional officer who was guarding them. ^[1] It reminded me of this quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ^[2]

Even as Christians we often want to sort people into good and evil, sheep and goats, but we are all a mixture of the two. (For example, even Judas felt remorse.) The only question is are we using God’s grace to become better. We need to be generous, compassionate, and merciful in our assessments of other people just as God is to us.

[1] Catherine Park and Deborah Tuff, “Georgia Inmates save Correctional Officer Who Passed out during Work Detail,” USA Today, accessed June 23, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/06/20/georgia-inmates-save-correctional-officer-who-passed-out-during-work-detail/411522001/.

[2] Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “A Quote from The Gulag Archipelago,” Goodreads, accessed June 23, 2017, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/13750-if-only-it-were-all-so-simple-if-only-there. I am too cheap to buy a copy of The Gulag Archipelago just to track this quote all the way down. I’ve heard it attributed to Solzhenitsyn, so I’m taking Goodreads at their word.