One of the most, if not the most beautiful thing about the Christian faith, is that we can always be forgiven. Of course we have to do some things to receive forgiveness, but our sins can be absolved all the same.
Jesus once said in the Bible passage John 8:7, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” What did Jesus mean by this? Did He say this with the knowledge that one among the group was without sin and therefore he would be fully justified to throw stones at the “disgraced” woman? Doubtful. What is meant by this, is that not one of us is without sin and thus, we have absolutely no right to throw a stone at someone for their sin.
This Bible passage helps to put this in more context:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” – Romans 3:23-27
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God — all of us…you, me, him, her, they… we have all sinned and as such, we fall short of the glory of God. And yet knowing, this, so many of us are quick to point the finger of judgement at another and to grab the nearest stone, ready to hurl it at them as punishment…for a sin that we accused them of.
As Christians, why do we so often forget that all of us are sinners and all of us are God’s children. He doesn’t require us to judge because we are in no position to piously accuse and condemn others for their sins, when we ourselves fall short of the glory of God too.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5
I believe that if we want to truly heal our world, we need to stop judging and condemning harshly. Of course we prosecute crimes and we want to help instill good moral values, but when we judge others, they know that we ourselves are not without sin and thus, not in a position to judge anyone else.
One of the primary tenets of Christianity is forgiveness and salvation and that is open to every single person who accepts, believes in and has faith in, Jesus Christ. Lets not arrogantly boast about how moral we are in judging others because folks the truth is, God sees and knows all and we’re fooling no one — not even ourselves.
To be forgiven for our own sins, lets consider these Bible passages:
“So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” – Luke 17:3-4
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” – Mark 11:25
“I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13: 3-5
To be forgiven, we must truly want forgiveness, ask to be forgiven, have a true faith in Jesus, forgive others as we want to be forgiven and repent. Far too many people think we can simply do as we please and then at the last minute say “sorry.” But alas, it doesn’t work that way — if you knew all along it was wrong and you continued to to it anyway, is that faith? If we sin, but condemn others for theirs sins, while we fail to ask for forgiveness through Jesus and we fail to repent, is that true faith?
We are human and we are weak and the beauty part is, that’s all right — all that is asked of us is to sincerely try and to be kind, generous, fair, forgiving and, faithful. Even if we try but fail again, it’s the effort, sincerity and deep desire to please God that makes all the difference. To show kindness and forgiveness is so liberating and it frees us to be more open and loving. I pray that through a sincere faith, every Christian embraces the light and helps to uplift themselves and their fellow man.
