Verse from John

“他们不住地问耶稣，他就挺起身来，说：“你们中间谁是没有罪的，他就可以先拿起石头打她。””

‭‭约翰福音‬ ‭8:7‬ ‭

“But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."”

‭‭John‬ ‭8:7‬ ‭

As a group of religious leaders herded an adulterous woman toward Jesus, they couldn’t know they were carrying her within a stone’s throw of grace. Their hope was to discredit Him. If He told them to let the woman go, they could claim He was breaking Mosaic law. But if He condemned her to death, the crowds following Him would have dismissed His words of mercy and grace.

But Jesus turned the tables on the accusers. Scripture says that rather than answering them directly, He started writing on the ground. When the leaders continued to question Him, He invited any of them who had never sinned to throw the first stone, and then He started writing on the ground again. The next time He looked up, all the accusers were gone.

Now the only person who could have thrown a stone—the only sinless one—looked at the woman and gave her mercy. “ ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’ ” (John 8:11).

Its easy to identify the sin of others, to criticise others, whether face to face, over a text message, or social media. But are we seeing our own sins/faults before criticizing others? Are we working to correct ourselves first before pointing out the sins of others? 

God wants us to be reminded of how important it is for us to take a rigorously honest inventory of our own faithfulness. He wants us to deal with our own sin before we evaluate anyone else.

Father, 

cleanse me of my judging nature and free me from the bonds of sin.

Let me taste Your mercy and then help me to live a changed life.

We serve a Savior who is eager to forgive.