2How can you look upon someone else’s sin and cast them aside when you yourself is full of wickedness and deceit? David said, 1“Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Yea, in heart ye work wickedness” Look upon yourself before judging someone else. Before judging someone else’s sin, Jesus said, 4“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. Those that heard Jesus teach this were 4“convicted by their own conscience” and 4“went out one by one”. They no longer desired to cast judgement upon the lady, caught in adultery, for they were in sin also. What happens next is amazing. Jesus said to the 4“woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” Though her sins were great, Jesus had mercy upon her soul. What she said to him is what we all need to do when we are in sin. She called Jesus Lord and responded to His counsel. If we are to be so humble and come to God in prayer, the Lord will listen. As we repent and come clean about our wrong doings, the Lord will forgive us. Just like this woman, God will help us live a better life. She was asked to sin no more and that is exactly what can happen when God is with us. 6Paul said that the mystery of the gospel is that Jesus Christ can live inside of us. We deliberately sin when our guard is down but when our faith is raised, we have power to deter the temptations of the devil.
Think of the joy you would be able to feel if sin wasn’t tearing you down. It is the weight of our sins that burden us. Our addictions bring us unnecessary shame and guilt. All this torment is not of God. It is Satan that wants people to continue living this way. He wants people to find joy in all the wrong places. He knows the joy won’t last too long. For this reason, he gets us hooked on things that will fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The fruit of this is always wanting more for me, me, me. Never does the devil want us to put our attention upon the needs of others. Can you see a difference here. Satan compels us to do things that bring us temporary joy. However, there is always a consequence and that is regret. God helps us find eternal happiness in doing good to one another. When we begin to help others, there is true love. Even the two greatest commandments are built upon this love. 5Jesus taught that if we love him, we will keep His commandments. We won’t only do things that please ourselves but also God. His ten commandments are wrapped up into two. 3“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” These two commandments are vital for our walk with God. Start looking outside yourself and what God has for your life. Look to serve and less to be served. Seek the Lord that sin may not enter your heart. Repent from any evil in your life. Put God above all things, including family.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, thank You for being an example of how to live a righteous life. Thank You for showing us mercy when all seems lost. You have come to our rescue when we need You most. Lord, You never forsake us. Thank You for not condemning us but helping us live a better life. Thank You for giving us direction. There is so much darkness in this world. Thank You for shining bright that I might see. Help us to obey Your commandments. Help us to truly show love to You, in our words and actions. When someone is in need, direct us to them that we might lend a helping hand. If we find someone in sin, let us not judge them but show them the way. Lord, You are the greatest example of how to love one another. May we look to You more and more in how to live and act around other people. Mend our hearts that more compassion may be shown to those around us. We love You. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
1Psalm 58:1-5 (KJV)
1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
2Matthew 7:1-5 (KJV)
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
3Matthew 22:35-40 (KJV)
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
4John 8:1-11 (KJV)
1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
5John 14:15,21 (KJV)
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
6Colossians 1:25-29 (KJV)
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
