DO WE MEAN IT

"She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

John 8:11
King James Version

Jim Gilbert wrote the hymn "I Love You With The Love of The Lord". We sing this hymn but do we mean it? If we do mean it we wouldn't be so judgmental and hateful to others. Someone actually said "I'm going to remove this so you won't be tempted again". It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted and He never sinned. So when we say that when people are tempted that they are sinning, it is a lie straight from the pits of hell.

We read in the Bible what Jesus said to satan when satan was tempting Jesus. "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matthew 4:7). Again, it is not a sin to be tempted to do something that hurts God, it is only a sin when we do it. May God help us to stop judging others and start loving others unconditionally as Jesus has commanded us to to love one another.

If we would do what one of my pastors used to say in his sermon"If you will make sure your own heart is in right standing with God, you won't have the time to judge others", we wouldn't hurt God as much as we do. I don't know about you but it is a full time job for me to make sure my own heart is right before God. Just because I write devotions every day doesn't make me perfect. There was only one perfect person who ever lived or ever will live and His Name is Jesus.

May God help us to stop judging and condemning others and to start loving one another unconditionally as Jesus has commanded us to love one another and become encouragers instead of discouraging one another.

Joanne Lowe
May 24, 2020