This story in John 8 has always intrigued me. A woman accused of committing adultery and if you read any commentaries the man that she had the affair with is not present and usually both would be accused together. Jesus listens to the accusers but He just bends down not once but twice and writes in the sand. As he writes, the woman’s accusers leave. Can you imagine the deep penetrating eyes of Jesus as he looks lovingly down at the woman asking her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? In John 8:11 she replies,
No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,”Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
A woman caught in adultery was usually stoned to death. However, Jesus wiped her slate clean. She was able to leave the affair behind.
In Psalm 103: 11-12 , God forgives us as far as east is from west. Sometimes though a believer has trouble forgetting one’s mistakes. Have you ever made a choice that you regretted? Do you continue to beat yourself up over past mistakes? In 1995, I met with three women at my church and I prayed through the Steps to Freedom by Neil Anderson. Chosen to go to Israel and share my testimony, a friend encouraged me to complete a freedom appointment before going to Israel. Little did I know that appointment would give me freedom. I had to leave behind my fears, my hate, my false conceptions of God and I walked out realizing I had been a prisoner of my mistakes. I went to Israel in November, 1995 and I shared my testimony in Nazareth everyday for five days and three people accepted Christ. My testimony was Psalm 103: 1-5. When I came home from Israel, I joined the Freedom In Christ ministry team where I continue to serve.
I let go of my hate that I had toward my husband. We celebrate forty-five years of marriage in July. I left go of the misconception that you would be forgiven but my sins were such that God did not forgive me. I let go of my fears.
Jesus told the woman to go and leave her life of sin, I had to leave behind my idol of worshiping food in 2012. I have lost 110 pounds and my story is in Tracie Miles book Your Life Still Counts.
Today I am choosing to leave behind a mistake I made in 2010 that was a poor choice I made. Although I have tried to make amends for this mistake, the relationship with a certain person is beyond my feeble attempts at making it right. I am choosing today to forgive this person and forgive myself. I am choosing to accept God’s forgiveness for that choice. I will let go and leave it behind accepting that I have done everything I can do and God is the only one who can fix this situation.
Beloved, just as the woman caught in adultery was forgiven, God will forgive you. He says so in I John 1:9 . Please do not be like me and continue to suffer self-condemnation for there is no condemnation for those of us in Christ according to Romans 8:1.
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