Allow me a short tangent on what I wrote yesterday regarding what Jesus refers to as "an evil person" in Matthew 5:39.
It is important to keep in mind that you and I have met very few truly evil people in our lifetimes. And even those who may legitimately be labeled as "evil" are not at all likely to "own" that label themselves.
Dr. Evil is an outlier:
Speaking for myself, I have often been too quick to pin the worst of motives on other people, especially on those who do or say things that hurt me or make my life more difficult. It's easy to imagine those words and actions spring from some core of evil.
But this last year has taught me that people can say and do outrageously damaging and hurtful things while feeling incredibly self-righteous. (Including me.)
As George R. R. Martin has put it succinctly, "Nobody is the villain in their own story." When we get our cheek struck by somebody - a co-worker, a family member, a stranger - it might be extremely useful to remember this.
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