Should we tell other people their faults?

—N.A.

Only a kind, wise, and perfectly poised person is in a position to tell others their faults. According to the law of cause and effect, if you judge others with kindness, you in return will receive the same treatment from the principle of Truth, which secretly governs all life. If you judge others unkindly, you will attract adverse criticism from others, which will make you miserable.

To reveal the weaknesses of others, causing them embarrassment and making them resentful, is not wise. Cruel judgment of the wrong actions of others makes one forget that the sinner is only an error-stricken child of God. You should hate the sin but not the sinner, for he is a child of God in error — your own divine brother whose understanding is temporarily eclipsed by ignorance.

The purpose of judgment must be curative only, not a revengeful outlet for anger. We should treat the error-stricken person as we would ourselves like to be treated if we were stricken with error. In the same spirit with which we judge others does the divine law judge us.

From Inner Culture, May 1939.