Let's take it up a notch, shall we?
There was once a man who argued with his wife. She and he argued. They were husband and wife. The had exchanged sacred vows with each other before God. But they argued.
Once, during an argument, she took her lit cigarette and burned him with it. Burned his bare arm, right under the armpit. He was quite surprised and let out a yelp while pushing her backwards and away from him. She went backward and when her legs met the sofa, she was abruptly seated. She wasn't used to being pushed and she too was very surprised by the violent turn of things.
Now comes the question. Was the man guilty of 4th Degree Assault? This degree of assault is also called, "Unwanted touching," and describes the least amount of force found in a typical assault charge.
Answer: Yes. He is guilty. He committed assault. She did not want him to touch her like that. Now, to be fair, if she pressed charges he could have said he was defending himself (because he was) but that's a defense to a legal charge. In other words, the assault may have been justified in the eyes of the law. But you never know. Best to not take any chances when it comes to a jury trial.
But to continue the story we will return to the man. No charges were brought. The small burn mark on his right arm, just under the armpit was permanent and would remain 'his' for the remainder of his days. But that was not the only mark that was made on him. You see, this man had a tender conscious before the Lord. And he wanted to get to the bottom of the question.
So what did he do? He called a "Domestic Violence Hotline."
"I want to turn myself in," he explained to the lady on the other end of the phone.
"Oh?" she replied.
"I recently was hurt and I shoved my wife backward and she fell onto the couch," he explained, leaving out certain key details.
"Was your wife injured," the violence counselor asked.
"No. She was not."
"Okay, I think I understand you to say that you have recently pushed your wife and she fell backwards into the couch but she was not injured, is this correct?" she asked.
"Yes. That is correct," the repentant man replied. You see, he had been convicted by a higher court, by the Holy Spirit, who is and was and shall always be utterly apart from all sin.
"Then let me ask you something, if you don't mind, please?" She pressed in.
He could tell something was up, that she was about to make a point, but that was what he was there for. He needed help in order to better understand. "Go ahead," he said.
"What do you think would have happened if it was not your wife and if you had done the exact same thing to a neighbor lady?"
Case closed. All the understanding that the man needed had been delivered succinctly, rather forcefully, and yet in a very gentle manner. It was almost as if the answer had been tailored fitted to him; the answer fit so very well.
"She would have called the police and may have sued me for all that I'm worth."
"I believe you are correct," was the reply from the other end of the phone.
She concluded the phone call thanking him for calling and saying that she'd like to give him a chance to think about what they had just talked about.
[CLICK]
Under this definition, he was clearly guilty of at least 4th degree assault. Under the definitions of sin in the Bible, he was not only guilty of that small point, he was guilty of the whole law. Love covers a thing and God is Love. Needless to say, he did repent, has turned away from all violence and will always and forever know what his hands have done.
