I don’t like when people judge. It’s one thing to want the best for someone, and try to redirect their life to better reflect that of Christ’s, but it’s another to pretend as though you are sinless, and project a since or arrogance towards someone simply because their sin looks different from yours. As if God has a scale on which he weighs some sins as far worse than others. It’s like, I want to tell them, ‘you do understand that gossiping about someone is equivalent to murder, right, that no one sin is greater than another in God’s eyes.’ It’s not as if Jesus died for a particular list of sins only. No. He died for our SIN. Singular, not a laundry list of sins. He was crucified for our inability to be without sin. His blood was shed as payment for the sin that plagues our hearts. His flesh was torn due to the transgressions of our flesh. If we neglect to admit our sin, or that we are still sinners (yes, even after being saved), then we make light of what Jesus did on the cross for all of us.
“If we claim that we’re free from sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—He won’t let us down; He’ll be true to Himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out and out contradict God—make a liar out of Him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.” - 1 John 1:8-10 MSG 🕊
When He said “It is Finished.” He meant finished. He didn’t say, “wait, actually there is more that is required of you before you can be forgiven, you have to do this, this, and this also before My sacrifice can be applied to your life.” He didn’t say “you need to go through these steps in order to obtain My grace and forgiveness.” The acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and putting your faith into Him wholeheartedly, are the only requirements for salvation.
Salvation has nothing to do with being sinless; it has everything to do with being free from the consequences of our sin. The fact is, we should be punished but instead He was punished in our place and that’s too profound of a merciful act for me to make light of. It’s why I will never look down on anyone for whatever sin they are standing in right now, because I know that there is no hole deep enough that God cannot venture. There is no place dark enough that the Holy Spirit will not go to find you, right in the midst of your mess simply to remind you of His presence. And there is NO SIN greater than what Jesus did for me and for you on the cross so that we may LIVE without the burden of sin hanging over our heads.
People know well enough the sins they struggle with, without a proud Christian trying to convince them of how they’ll never be an exemplary Christian like they are. The devil is a Liar. There is no exemplary or perfect Christian, nor will there ever be. Even after you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are still a sinner, the only difference between you and the person who does not yet know Jesus; is that they don’t know that they no longer have to suffer the consequences of their sins. How about you show them the way. How about you teach them about His grace, or speak life into them about who they truly are in Christ. How about you tell them that they have a Redeemer, and have already been forgiven, that they are Loved deeply, as a daughter or son of a King, despite their mistakes. Can you do that, instead of making them feel even worse about the state they are in by your judgment and condemnation of them? Can we love a little deeper, please? Can we open our hearts a bit wider to hear people out and try and understand and empathize with where they are currently and how they ended up there? Can we show a bit more compassion for our brothers and sisters? I hope we can. Because we are all beautiful regardless of our flawed nature. We all still hold a purpose in Him. We are all on this earthly journey together doing the best that we can with what we’ve been dealt in our lives. We all belong to Jesus, it’s just some of us don’t yet know it, and we need some beautiful Christ-like soul out there (A Christian unafraid to be real and vulnerable) to come and find us in the dark places others are too proud to go, to simply stand by our side, in our sin, and be a positive light in our lives so that we may see ourselves as we truly are.... as a son and daughter of a Loving Father, instead of feeling as though we dont belong anywhere.
Someone out there is waiting for you right now, to be the one person who doesn’t judge them, but instead hugs them, loves on them, speaks life into them; invites them to church consistently hoping that one day, you get a yes, and in the interim, that you’ll be the one praying for them, going to God on their behalf, praying that the Holy Spirit can penetrate their heart and make them see who they truly are so that they come to know Christ as you have.
“For this is how God loved the world; He gave His one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” - John 3:16 NLT
It’s not our place to judge and decide who gets to have eternal life. Jesus has already decided that it’s everyone who believes in Him. Don’t make light of His promises, His Word, His sacrifice, His grace. His Love is and should always be, extended to anyone, anywhere. No matter the sin, no matter the circumstances. God, let us be the one unafraid to extend that Love.
