Take
care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart
that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another
day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of
you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have
become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm
until the end,
Hebrews 3:12-14 (NASB)
SIN DECEIVES
US THAT WE ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS WHO SIN WORSE THAN WE DO (IN OUR OWN MINDS)
The
scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set
her in the center {of the court,} 4 they *said to Him, "Teacher, this
woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now in the Law
Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" 6 They were
saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But
Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 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." 8
Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they
{began} to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left
alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center {of the court.} 10
Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one
condemn you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said,
"I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."]
John 8:3-11
One of the
most deceitful messages of sin is that we are better than others on the basis
of our sin. Imagine how I felt as I heard my son’s cry when he touched the
woodstove. I did not think how bad he was. I did not think how much better I
was than him. I did not shame him. I wished he had listened to me but as I held
him and cried for him what mattered was that he was not hurt worse.
When I came
to the hospital to visit my friend who had cut his hand I did not lecture him
on safe practices in using a saw. I was praying for him. I was so grateful he
was not dealing with a whole hand cut off.
But sadly I
have not always had this attitude. Often I have believed the lie that some sins
are worse than others. I thought I was better than those who sinned in worse
ways than I did. I had an elitist perspective of sin.
Like those
who stood around a young woman caught in a sin that seemed the epitome of sin.
But as Jesus began to write in the sand the reality of their sin began to take
hold. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”
These words
forever silenced her accusers. But sadly
it had not silenced me. What did silence me was the realization that even
though I had all kinds of very good reasons that I was not judging….. not
condemning…. not wanting to cast a stone….. which was all true…. but I held within my heart an uncompassionate
attitude towards others who sinned in a way I thought worse than my own.
I know that
if the father of that woman – if he was a good one -- had seen the commotion
and joined the group that was condemning her, even though it broke his heart to
see what she had done, would have certainly not thrown the first or any stone. Like
Jesus he would have sought some way to help her move away from her sin while
expressing his love for her.
If we think
of everyone as one of our children we would have a better heart about their
sin. That is the reality of God’s heart. We would not think it a light thing
and just overlook it – which is the trend today. We would not condemn them. We
would not think of ourselves as superior. If we are good parents we would do
everything we could to help them out of the death in which their sin binds
them.
Next Part - The Lies of Sin Part Six
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