Tami’s Meandering Thoughts

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
John 8:7

All of us sin. I know that probably anyone who reads this acknowledges that fact, but golly, don’t we love to point it out in other people? Today I thought about this passage where we see a woman, caught in adultery and brought before Jesus. The crowd demanded justice – this woman did wrong, the people accused, and the law demands for us to enact punishment and kill her for it. You all probably know Jesus’ response: he looked back at the accusers and gave them permission to stone her with one condition. Whoever had never sinned needed to throw the first stone. Every single person dropped their stone as they examined their own life and realized that no one could stand up under that condition.

All of us sin. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we’re caught, and sometimes it’s a secret that we ardently hide from the eyes of others. Although my sin may be very different from your sin, all sins fall into one big category of turning our back on God and making a decision to go our own way and think our own thoughts. So many times, though, we ignore our own sin and pounce on someone else’s. That’s what this crowd did.

All of us sin. But they weren’t ready to acknowledge that. Here was a woman they could haul out into the public eye, accuse (to show their own righteousness), and then demand restitution at their own hands. In our society I have never seen anyone pick up an actual stone and hurl it at another to exact punishment, but although our hands may not grasp a stone, our thoughts and mouths sure like to cast their own punishment. And we don’t do it silently, either! We make sure that everyone we know has the latest information about the sin, and each time we repeat the story it gets larger, bigger and more intriguing. I am not saying that there are not consequences to sin. There are and we each do pay for our own actions.

All of us sin. Please remember that as we hear rumors, and even as facts surface in any situation. I am NOT saying that we should not share concerns with affected parties. But PLEASE, when discussing someone else’s sin share it only with those who can help in the situation. And PLEASE don’t embellish the stories we hear about people. Remember..

All of us sin. Our response to someone else’s sin MUST be love, compassion and acknowledgment of our own sin. God can be glorified (or made famous) in any situation. Pray for anyone you know who has a sin made public. Pray for any affected parties. Pray that God would become famous in the situation as He works. Then make sure you pray for yourself and that God would reveal the sin in your life that he wants to take from you.

All of us sin.