The modern idea that we should forgo justice when dealing with criminals was started by the psychological community, based on evolution and human wisdom.
Many Christians have fashioned their life after the psychology of "just be nice to them and they will like Jesus" or more accurately "hurting people hurt people", not realizing that it is not only unbiblical it works against God, His justice and the means through which criminals and naughty people get the idea that they don't have to confess or repent, they can get away with anything and still have the honor of the community.
When we do not punish those who are unrepentant, it demeans and devalues their victims.
Since there are few consequences for sin in our culture, the evil is growing, the violence has increased and wicked attitudes continue to escalate.
Isaiah 26:10 "10 Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD. "
The wicked do not get better when we coddle them, they get worse.
In another post about falling in love and affairs that are not God honoring, there was mention of the feelings involved, here was my take on this matter.
We can stop feelings for the wrong person by praying and reading the word. Most "in love" experiences are based on physical attraction or attention given, those feelings leave when we realize they are inappropriate.
There was a time many years ago, before my husband became born again, when I felt I had "fallen out of love" with him because of the way he was acting. I was born again then and he was not so there was a continual anger toward me because of my new found faith.
When I went to the Lord about it, He focused me on my duty to treat my husband with love no matter how I felt. As I began to treat him in loving ways, the feelings returned. But the act of love came first before the feelings.
When we are determined to live for Christ no matter what, we can develop feelings of love as we act in loving ways. So many people make the mistake of depending on their feelings to sustain them, but there is no way feelings can remain positive, the hard stuff comes and the feelings go, but the act of love can continue anyway.
When we act in loving ways toward others, we will not have to regret how we treated someone else, even if they do not honor and love us. We don't have to keep consistently unkind people in our lives, unless they are spouses, but when we encounter them, we can do our part and leave them to the Lord.
Many marriage problems are diminished if one party is not fighting while continuing their resolve to act Christlike no matter the response of the other party.
Luke 6:27-28 "27 But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. "
As adults we should be learning to admit our feelings and then evaluate them in terms of the Bible. Often our feelings deceive us, they tell us things are good when they are bad and they are bad when they are good. We must not operate according to our feelings, however admitting them brings them out into the open to see the condition of our heart.
We are to train ourselves to think with the mind of Christ by rightly dividing the word of God. When we know God's principles well, then we can quickly dismiss any feelings that do not reflect the ways of God.
Those who are not trained in the Word or neglect seeking the Holy Spirit, will base most of what they do no their feelings, often destroying relationships because of the inaccurate assessment of situations. Many people will tell lies to justify their feelings, rather than evaluating them to discern truth.
It is very difficult to restore a relationship when feelings are the bench mark for everything. Acknowledging our feelings helps us to assess our spiritual and emotional condition. We should never deny them, but we should not live according to them.
Of course in order to accurately assess our feelings we must have two very important elements present in our thinking, these are honesty and humility, an arrogant individual can never to what is needed to live a Christlike life.
