neither do i condemn you

How does God heal emotional hurts? Gently, tenderly and with compassion. I'm thinking about a compassionate mother who holds her hurting, crying child because something has gone wrong in her child's life; I'm thinking about a nurse who gently, quietly nurses her patient and slips out of the room, unnoticed when a family member arrives; I'm thinking about a teacher who listens attentively to her pupil who is excited about what she saw on the way to school, because she knows its likely no one else will listen. This is how God heals, gently, tenderly and with compassion.

I used to think that when we sin, and hurt from our own sins, that we were on our own. If the sin made us cry, well, then, too bad. We're the ones who messed up. It's our fault, and we need to deal with it. But I am beginning to realize that God has compassion on us when we hurt, even when it is our own fault, our own wayward hearts that has placed us in the position to be hurt. I am reminded of the woman who was about to be stoned because she was "caught in the very act of adultery." Jesus did not condemn her, but rather, he defended her. "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her," he told them. And then he wrote something on the ground. They all left, one by one, till she was left alone with Jesus. "Woman where are they," Jesus asked. "Did no one condemn you?" She said, "no one, Lord." And he answered her and said, "then neither do I condemn you."

So he doesn't condemn her. But he says, "now go. And sin no more."

And with these words, Jesus does not offer her an excuse for her behavior. But in his response to her in front of the crowd, he does offer her something else--something better than an excuse. He offers her love. He offers her love and out of that love, he offers her acceptance despite what she has been caught doing.

And I think this is the way God heals us in our sin. He loves us, tenderly, gently and with great compassion. This is important because it means we don't need to depart from God when we sin. We need to draw closer to him. We need to draw closer so we can hear his voice more clearly when he says "neither do I condemn you." I think these are the words we need to hear first, before we can hear, or accept, his next words: "now go. And sin no more."

We have sinned in the first place because we lack something in our lives. How difficult it is to break away from that sin if we don't believe that when we break away, we go flying into our Father's arms. How can we throw ourselves on his shoulder if we feel we are condemned by him? We can not. So let us draw close to Jesus, even and especially in the midst of our sin. We need to hear him say "neither do I condemn you; neither do I condemn you; neither do I condemn you." I believe if we listen closely, he will say these words to us until we can hear the next: "now go, and sin no more."