Be Civil Even When You're Right

Eric Metaxas:

...The greatest temptation for people who are right about something is to forget that in being right you must still be civil to those who might not be right. And if you are uncivil, you somehow negate the rightness of your point. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies. So we don’t only fight for what is right, but we fight in the right way. We don’t stoop to the level of our enemies. In my biography of Wilberforce, I talk about how he fought passionately, but he treated his opponents with civility. In some measure, that was how he won. He showed by the way he was fighting his battles that God was with him in the battle. Let it be a lesson to us. God commands us to treat others as we wish to be treated. It’s not a helpful hint. It’s a command.

This quote is from an interview of Eric Metaxas by National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez.

Metaxas is the author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace, about William Wilberforce. The latest book by Metaxas is titled Socrates in the City: Conversations on "Life, God, and Other Small Topics."