Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he 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?Shame and its friends guilt and embarrassment are serious challenges to our lives. Shame has other names and faces—contempt, humiliation, remorse, stigma, dishonor, mortification, self-disgust. Feelings of shame are debilitating, keeping us from living full lives. Many times, the shame is secret, and it may not even be rooted in the truth or a real event, but it is real in the perception of the person who feels it. It can feel insurmountable.
John 8:1-5
In the story above, there are a couple of notable things. First, for all of their talk about the Law, the religious leaders had already disregarded it by only arresting the woman. The law actually required that both the woman and the man caught in adultery be stoned (see Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22). This was trickery by the Pharisees to try to trap Jesus so they could turn him over to the Romans. Second, Jesus didn’t condemn the woman, but neither did he ignore or condone her sin. He told her to leave her life of sin.
Adultery may not be one of the life-altering sins we fall into, but there are others that cause us to harbor shame inside. Adultery by someone we know or love may cause us to feel shame. The challenges presented by that can make a choice to live life Love First really difficult. Can we open ourselves to deal with those challenges? Are we willing to choose to Love First?
Your Mission
Notice someone around you who seems to bear the brunt of criticism. Pray for them by name saying, “What can I do for [name] today?” Plan to respond with Love First.
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