Neither Do I Condemn Thee

To start this off I’ll give you the context of the title. The Pharisees show up to Christ with this woman and tell Him she has been caught in the act of adultery. She was messing up with a guy she shouldn’t have been. They state that in the law of Moses, she is suppose to be stoned. I looked what the other translations of “stone” meant. It also means gossip, so in other words to just say fowl things to her. This got me thinking this week about myself. I have this wonderful woman I know that always praises her husband, I never hear her say mean things about him. They have been married for over 30 years and she still misses him when he is gone at work. I then got thinking about how I talk about the people I love. Do I cast stones at then, even behind their back? Am I treating them the way she was treated, being dragged out and made ashamed. I then took it upon myself to not do that and to change the conversation when others were.

Back to the story, Christ stays peaceful and just leans down and starts writing in the sand. They ask him what he has to say. He then basically says, “Who ever here is absolutely perfect and never messes up can say whatever they want to her.” Which, by the way, HE could have. But instead, they run away and is gentle with her. He asks her who has anything mean to say about you? She replies with, no one Lord. He then, being perfect and justified to say whatever He wants to her, sees her. He saw HER! Not just the sin, He saw her brokenness. Instead, chooses to tell her, “I have nothing mean to say to you. Now, go, and become better. Try again.” And in a Bible Video that I will include the link to, He holds her. He picks her up off the ground, and helps her walk forward. This story changed my relationship with my Savior so much. He died for the sin already, go forward and let Him heal you. “Neither do I condemn thee.” What sweet words to use. He knows what she did was wrong, but He also knows she knows, and what she needs to feel love in order to move forward. John 8 holds so much of Christ’s true character in it. Just John the book across the board shows Christ’s light and hope better than anywhere else in my opinion.

One more word I want to focus on before I finish is “condemn.” With the context the word is surrounded by it means “benevolent.” The beauty of this, is that He could have said anything to her but instead Christ was kind. I want to be this in all of my future relationships, I want to choose the harder thing and be king. I can know peoples flaws and not have to say them. I want to love not be right.

Even Before the Beginning.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Words that I needed reminding of this week. I think, honestly, they are words we need to be reminded every day of. That we are so important to our Father in Heaven that He sacrificed GREATLY for us to be able to make it back home.

This fact means our life problems matter to him. Evidence, I was taken a simple assessment for one of my classes. I was quick studying a little bit more before class started. As I studied I looked at one specific term and just really felt like I needed to know it. It was the only term used on the assessment. I know God cares about things in our lives that may seem minuscule, even assessments. We care, He cares more. 

In return He simply asks us to be like his son that he sent to us. “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Christ is speaking to Nicodemus about how a man can be born when he is old? He then asks the silly question, do we have to go back into our mother womb? Christ then says that we need to be born of the flesh AND the spirit. That what is born of the flesh is flesh but “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (verse 6). So how are we born of the Spirit? We are born by accepting our Savior and letting His light shine through us. Something I love is the contrast of light and dark used all throughout John. He is an incredible writer of themes to focus on. Christ says: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the ligth, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:18-21). I probably should paraphrase that, but I would feel unworthy to try and turn Christ words into my own words. He then teaches that we are to be baptized by HIS power and authority. And that heaven will provide us with this power.

I want testify of my witness of the wonderful, wonderful power. I have seen it in His scriptures, translated by one worthy of His power, which shape me every day continually. I have seen it in my Dad, who has blessed me by living worthy to have it in our home every day. I saw it on my mission, being set apart from the world by that sacred and holy power. I love the Priesthood, and I know without a doubt I was baptized by it and every day am more converted to my Lord by that covenant. I am grateful for Temples, because they are my Lord’s home here on Earth. I want to end with a children’s song. 1. I love to see the temple.

1. I’m going there someday
   To feel the Holy Spirit,
   To listen and to pray.
   For the temple is a house of God,
   A place of love and beauty.
   I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
   This is my sacred duty.
   2. I love to see the temple.
   I’ll go inside someday.
   I’ll cov’nant with my Father;
   I’ll promise to obey.
   For the temple is a holy place
   Where we are sealed together.
   As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
   A fam’ly is forever.

He Sent His Son

This children’s song has played such a great role in my life. It has been there for me in my darkest hours. The words to this song speak love from a Father in Heaven that pierce me to the core.

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.
How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.
How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask? Live like his Son.

This week my studies were focused on that sacrifice that our Heavenly Father made for us. The wonderful act of the Atonement was the great key to getting back home. It is also the great key to becoming someone who wants to go home. There is this wonderful talk by Brad Wilcox where he touches on this.

““Have you been changed by grace?” They are so excited about being saved that maybe they are not thinking enough about what comes next. They are so happy the debt is paid that they may not have considered why the debt existed in the first place. Latter-day Saints know not only what Jesus has saved us from but also what He has saved us for. As my friend Brett Sanders puts it, “A life impacted by grace eventually begins to look like Christ’s life.” As my friend Omar Canals puts it, “While many Christians view Christ’s suffering as only a huge favor He did for us, Latter-day Saints also recognize it as a huge investment He made in us.” As Moroni puts it, grace isn’t just about being saved. It is also about becoming like the Savior (see Moroni 7:48).

The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can live after we die but that we can live more abundantly (see John 10:10). The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can be cleansed and consoled but that we can be transformed (see Romans 8). Scriptures make it clear that no unclean thing can dwell with God (see Alma 40:26), but, brothers and sisters, no unchanged thing will even want to.” (His Grace is Sufficient).

A thought I have been having along with all of this as well is Heavenly Father’s role in all of this. How He felt watching His only begotten son hurt and have to leave him. How wonderful it is to know we are loved by Heavenly Father so much that He has given a chance. He believes in us. He trusts us because He loves us.

“There appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43).

When we feel like we can’t go on anymore, remember even the provider of Grace needed the comfort of an angel.

“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32).

Let Grace change you, and in turn share that change. He walked the the painful lonely road to raise you up. He hung on the cross, so that He can be our strength to bear up our own crosses. Joy is felt in him. Joy can be felt. Brad Wilcox concludes his beautiful talk with this:

“As God is my witness, I love the youth of this church. I believe in you. I’m pulling for you. And I’m not the only one. Parents are pulling for you, leaders are pulling for you, and prophets are pulling for you. And Jesus is pulling with you.”

And Elder Holland says to back him up:

““Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”

I testify that God lives, that He is our Eternal Father, that He loves each of us with a love divine. I testify that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son in the flesh and, having triumphed in this world, is an heir of eternity, a joint-heir with God, and now stands on the right hand of His Father. I testify that this is Their true Church and that They sustain us in our hour of need—and always will, even if we cannot recognize that intervention. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. Of that I personally attest. I thank my Father in Heaven for His goodness past, present, and future” (An High Priest of Good Things to Come).