Neither Be Partakers of Other Men’s Sins

"Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22). I'm not 100% sure I've understood this verse correctly, but this is what the Spirit spoke to me as I read it. If someone attacks or wrongs us, our immediate and natural reaction is to retaliate in kind. They did a bad thing and the world cries out for justice, and we're going to act on Justice's behalf. But if we go out and attack them, or lay our hands suddenly on them in anger, then we are parking in their sin. By hitting us, they sinned, but if we return punch for punch and take an eye for an eye, then, however justified we may feel, we are sinning right back at them, or, in other words, partaking in their sins. The Lord has the power and the knowledge and the inclination to sort out every wrong and injustice the world over and He asks us to trust Him that all will be made right in the end. He wants us to forgive and pray for those who hate us and despitefully use us not just because He wants us to develop humility and compassion and kindness and patience, but also because He wants us to remain pure and to refrain from partaking in other people's sins. You see, someone hits us and they have sinned, but if we hit them back, then we have sinned. And we can imagine if they first hit us unprovoked, they are much likely to hit us again now that we have hit them in turn. And so we invite them to partake in our sin, and then if we hit back again we are once again partaking in their sin. And round and round we go, weaving a web of anger and pain and sin around us. But if we repent and we forgive and we pray for those who wrong us, then through the Atonement of Christ we can become pure and full of love even towards our enemies and we will slowly stop thinking that it is the natural and correct and inevitable choice to return eye for eye and to partake in the sins of others all in the misguided attempt at justice. As they say, to err is human, to forgive is divine. We are here to become more like our Father in Heaven, to become more divine and the more that we learn to forgive, the less we will err.