One day I was on a run through my neighborhood when I came upon a turtle in the middle of the street. Not wanting the little guy to be crushed by a car, I snatched him up, returned to the side of the road and set him down safely in the grass.

Disaster averted. Turtle’s life saved. I must be a pretty good guy.

But a few miles later, it occurred to me. That turtle had been facing the right side of the road when I found him, and I dropped him off on the left, where I had been running. Initially thinking I had done a charitable deed, I had instead tossed away hours of work that turtle had put in to safely get that far. He was halfway to his destination, and I, without hesitation, had put him back to point A.

So many times as Christians, we try to fix people based solely on our own perspective. We come upon someone steadily trying to seek God, but we only consider the speed of our own situation. We don’t see the trials it took for them to make small strides, and we don’t stop to consider they’re at least facing the right direction.

When teaching perseverance, God warned us that “everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19). He tells us to open our ears and hearts to his word rather than act rashly based on our own perspective.

Are Christians instructed to help those falling away? Absolutely. But we must at least practice sympathy and hopefully empathy, if possible.

God says “if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently, … (but) if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else” (Galatians 6: 1, 3-4).

Sometimes we should pay less attention to the spiritual speed of our companion and more to the direction they are facing. Saving often involves edification rather than bold interjection.

– Adam Sparks