[Blog] GO and sin no more

These words may sound very powerful and authoritative but don't we find it good to live a sinless life?

In the last installment of our current series, TURNING POINT, there was a clear instruction from God to all of us - GO AND SIN NO MORE. This is a story of a woman caught in the act of adultery. It got me to think, how does it feel to be the woman being put to shame in front of a lot of people? How does the crowd react to this? How will I react to it if I were part of the crowd? I would say, it would have been a very gruesome sight and an ignominious feeling for the woman --- as if she was walking naked.

I asked myself then, were there times that I felt like people were talking about me it may be I was around or not? A LOT OF TIMES. Last year, I confessed to a dear friend that I got involved with her partner during the rocky times of their relationship. After this, she disowned me as her friend and started gossiping about me and what happened. I thought that the effect of me being open to her about what happened would lighten my offense to her but I was wrong. For months, I had to bear the "looks" and the "talks" about me but I did not care. I told myself, it'll pass and I will be vindicated. Time passed and the talks were mummed for there are more juicy stories about other stuff so mine was sort of forgotten. I have forgiven her already and as of today, we are now talking civilly.

Another one was just recently when I confronted a friend who gave other people malicious thoughts about me. As I mentioned in my previous blog, she said some very degrading thoughts about me and my financial status. Last Sunday morning, I got the chance to talk to her and I brought in the person she offended as well. I tried to fix their dispute but the conversation led me to talk about what I found out about the malicious talks she told people. I prayed to God days prior to Sunday and told God that He knows what really happened and who is telling the truth. Yes, I was hurt but talking to her made me think how will I react to things now that things are being unfolded? Fast forward, I was able to clear my name in front of the other person who is one of those who knew about this gossip. We’re fine and my prayers are with her still.

There are a whole lot more stories about me which would probably take a year to blog about but my only question in mind, how would I react to these things if I do not have God in me? I would have lashed out, bad mouthed and get even with these people so I can convince the crowd that I was not what they think I was. But with me hearing over and over again, with all my power and might, nothing will happen. I am pretty sure that I will end up looking more guilty of what happened which would worsen the situation. What is the best thing to do? Let go and let God work His way. If I reacted differently, I would have committed a sin against these people and my God but I don't want this to happen. Time and again, we've been hearing "forgive and forget" so we can move on but it's not just about moving on. This is the message the Scripture told us to do -- "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." [Colossians 3:13b].

I learned that God wants us to live a sinless life. Have I chosen to sin by lashing out on to these people, it would not do me any good and God will not be happy for this. With regard to the Sunday’s gospel, Jesus challenged the crowd to throw the first stone if no one has sinned at all; hence, people started walking away from the woman. Jesus’ instruction to the adulteress after what happened was, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more”. This is a clear showcase of God’s ultimate and unconditional love to us. If we have sinned, He will forgive us, will not condemn us after and will ask us to leave our sinful life. How wonderful to know that I serve a God like this. Never in my life that I would have this kind of encounter with our Almighty. I am a work in progress and I know God does no condemn me for being what I was. He is the God that we all want to have in our lives. A God who wants us to be victorious in every area of our lives.

Thank you Lord for being my God and I will forever be grateful to have you in my life. I will never be the same again because You changed me. You reign in me. You are my God.