Go and sin no more!

Go and sin no more!
Reflections of John 8:1-11

How often is it that we feel just like that adulterous woman thrown before Jesus by her accusers?  Sin is the factor that drives us down into the dirt and causes us to cower before God.  The reality is far different for some, though.  Because we walk in knowledge that Christ has forgiven our sin it can become easy to at as though our sin isn’t as bad as someone else’s sin.  The fact is it is sometimes easier to finger someone else for his sin than to build ourselves up and divert attention from our own sin.  Yet this isn’t what Jesus gave us.  Jesus gave us forgiveness not to place ourselves above another, but to forgive one another, also.  Matthew 7:1 (NIV) says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”  We are not to judge anyone for the sins that they commit, which is the wagging of the finger and showing power, but we are to kneel down with them and pray.  So often we either wag our fingers at someone for her failures or we sit back in the other righteousness of saying that we should not judge.  The question is this:  Is it judgment to notice and approach someone with care when we see him falling into sin?
Jesus told us not to judge, that is true, however He did not act as though there was no sin.  Jesus looked at this woman and knew that she was sinful, but guess what?  So was everyone that was accusing her and condemning her for her sin.  In Christ’s love we are to come together in a community of faith that is safe for sinners to be open and honest about the sins that each and every one of us struggle with.  The church is not a place of stones and wagging fingers, but a place of hugs and understanding.  It is not a place that is blind to sin, but a place where sin is revealed and sin is washed away.  No matter how great or how small Christ wants it all.  Give it and go and sin no more!