I can attack but my own sinlessness, and it is only that which keeps me safe

Attack often promises a quick kind of safety.

If I point out another person’s flaws before anyone notices mine, I may feel less exposed. If a group agrees with my criticism, judgment can even feel like belonging.

I remember joining a conversation in which someone who was not present became the subject. I added a comment that was accurate enough to earn laughter.

For a moment, I felt included.

Later, the exchange stayed with me. The belonging had required me to make another person smaller, and some part of me knew the same group could eventually do that to me.

Attack had not increased safety. It had taught my mind that worth was conditional and vulnerability was dangerous.

What I attacked was my awareness of shared sinlessness.

Today I want to notice the protection I expect judgment to provide.

I may still need to name harmful behavior or discuss a problem with someone who can help address it.

That is different from using another person’s weakness as social currency.

My sinlessness keeps me safe because it establishes worth outside the ranking system attack requires.

When I remember it in another person, I remember it in myself.

No one has to become inferior for me to belong.