“Let him who is
without sin
throw the first stone.”
John 8:7
I’ve been thinking about this scripture a lot lately and pondering just how many stones I’ve been guilty of throwing. My heart breaks as I think about all of the inflicted wounds from my words, judgements, rejections.
How can something that hurts me so badly be the very thing I hurl towards another. If I don’t want my failures and sins broadcast, how dare I even whisper the sin of another into the ears of someone who didn’t know, who didn’t need to know. That’s not love, for…
“love covers a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8b
Causing someone to look bad to and be rejected by others certainly isn’t love. I’m not going to win any lost soul to Christ or help anyone to grow in their faith by pelting them over and over again.
We’ve all been on the receiving end of the stones. The only result in our hearts was shame and isolation.
Rather, I want to be one who, like Jesus, extends the hand which lifts the fallen out of the pit. Who defends someone who’s making an effort to change and to do better. Who encourages relationships of family and friends. Loving someone doesn’t mean you embrace their sin, but it does give them an example of what to expect by joining the repentant.
Above all….. LOVE!
“Above all, love each other deeply…”
1 Peter 4:8a
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