Scripture: John 8:2-11 At dawn he [Jesus] appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Devotional: I was at coffee with a friend, and we were doing a Bible study together. We were talking about obeying God’s commands, and the question, “Which of God’s commands does the world find burdensome?” After mulling it over for some time, I responded to the question with, “Go and sin no more.” I was referring to the story in John where Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery that he does not condemn her. People are often drawn to this story because it is a beautiful picture of God’s grace.
When the people gathered around this woman, they tried to get Jesus caught between a rock and a hard place by referencing the 10 Commandments. However, Jesus gave a much different answer. We read that Jesus began writing in the dirt. Many scholars believe He may have been writing out a list of sins in the dirt. Can you imagine that? The sin that you struggle with, that no one knows about, is listed right there in the dirt by Jesus. Pornography. Addiction. Pride. Gossip. He continues and tells anyone that if they are without sin, they can cast the first stone at this woman. Slowly, they all trickle away. When He asks the woman about it, she says that no one has condemned her. Jesus replied that He does not condemn her either.
This is absolutely a beautiful story, and I know that we can all relate. But this is also not where the story ends. Jesus also tells the woman to turn away from her life of sin as she lives. She was caught in adultery, and He tells her that she needs to repent and stop living that way of life. The same command applies to us. We are to be consistently repenting of our sins and making an effort to turn away from it in our life.
What sin do you need to ask God for forgiveness for? And then, not only ask for forgiveness, but ask for His help in ridding yourself of it? This is an ongoing process. It isn’t going to happen overnight. You may not completely rid yourself of it ever. But being repentant of it and pursuing Christlikeness will help you to be sanctified more and more into the image of Christ. He commands us to turn from our life of sin and gives us the way to do that through Jesus. And we continue to fall short, remember, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT).
Reflect:
- What sin or area of your life are you currently struggling with giving over to God? Why do you think that is?
- Give it over to Him, trusting that there is more than enough grace for you. Ask God to guide you and help you trust Him with it.