because He knew all about her without her telling Him anything. And He offered her the answer to her life’s pain. That got people’s attention, so they sought Jesus out. And pretty soon they believed too. They told the woman that they first believed because of what she said, but after they met Him, they believed because of Him. That’s what happens when you encounter Jesus and His love…you can’t help but be changed by Him, wooed by Him, because of how He is with you. His love is life-changing.
Look at how He was with the Samaritan woman. He didn’t condemn her. He had every right to—remember that. But He didn’t. He didn’t ignore what was wrong, either. He gave the solution to it. That just moves me, and I can’t contain the thankfulness that wells up in me. He loves us enough to not leave us in our mess. He doesn’t turn away because we are a lost cause. He doesn’t shake His head and make us feel shame because we can’t seem to conquer that one bad habit. He doesn’t jab us with a sarcastic barb to shake us out of our misery. He doesn’t make us feel embarrassed in His presence because we are so far from godly.
And He doesn’t make excuses for us, either, so that we can continue to behave in the ways that He knows will end in destruction for us. He labels them for what they are, just like He did with the Samaritan woman. Not in a condemning way, but in a factual way. That’s true love, isn’t it? Loving someone enough to tell them the truth. That’s what Jesus does for us, because He is truth.
Many well-meaning people think the best thing you can do is to show someone who is in a bad spot “tough love.” I have looked high and low through the Bible, and I can’t find any stories where Jesus does this when someone is wounded and needing help. Nor have I found a place where He makes someone feel two inches tall after an interaction with Him. Convicted, yes. Insulted and put down, no. Rather, I find story after story of people healed by Him, set free from sin and evil by Him, encouraged to live differently because of His love and made to see clearly because of the clarity He offers them.
The only time I can ever find a record of Jesus condemning people is when they are saying that they are operating in His name yet are not showing love, not living out the truth. When they are misrepresenting Him. Like the religious leaders of the day who were walking around condemning everyone for not following the rules as well as they were, even though their hearts were hard to those who needed Jesus. Or those who were making a mockery of Him by using His name, His church and His message for their own gain. Specifically, behaviours that don’t accurately represent His love and what He came to do and the purity of faith.
I wonder how He would feel about the way things are today. Would He come across religious leaders today who are misrepresenting Him and His message? Would He be pleased with what He found?
I’d like to touch on one more passage from the Bible that God showed me this morning as I was spending time with Him. He does that often, by the way. He keeps taking me to verses and Bible passages that fit perfectly with the part of the book I am working on or a part that I know is to come. It always blesses me when that happens, because I know that means His hand is on this project. But I share that with you so you can be blessed as well, because what it also means is that He led me to write about it because He wants it for you, too. Because He loves you.
Jude is just a one-chapter book of the Bible, right before Revelation. In verse 24, it says, “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” This passage is frequently read as a “doxology” or a blessing, often at the end of a church service. And what it says really is a blessing from God to us. But did you notice in the middle the part that is so specific to this chapter? He, meaning Jesus, is able to present you without fault. That verse says that because of Him, we stand in His presence (now and in heaven) and are seen as having no fault.
Because of Jesus, we are seen by Him as clean. Without fault. No condemnation. It doesn’t say that He will present us before His glorious presence wishing we were good enough. It doesn’t say that He will present us before His glorious presence even though we have faults. Or that He can’t present us before His glorious presence because of our faults. Because of Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us, in His eyes we don’t have fault. Not because of us; because of Him. And we are presented with great joy. I’ve tried to decide whether the great joy is ours because we are without fault or His because He gets to present us without fault—and I’ve decided that, really, either interpretation is just as precious.
A Personal Reflection
The perfection of this plan brings me to tears every time I spend any time reflecting upon it. Tears of joy and thankfulness. He knows me. He knows that I am, by nature, a perfectionist. And also, by nature, I’m unable to attain that perfectionistic standard set for myself, by myself. I spent a good part of my younger life feeling self-condemnation because of that. Expecting myself to be perfect and really being hard on myself when I didn’t measure up.
My perfectionistic standards prevented me from doing many things…or else I did them, but with great anxiety. I expected myself to get As. That’s it. Anything less than an A was not good enough. I pushed myself so hard to attain that, and for the most part, I succeeded—even in post-secondary education. But it was not worth it at all. I think back to how stressful life was because of that expectation, and I wish I could go back and help my younger self understand the truth I’m sharing with you here, because it would have saved me years of stress and unnecessary strain.
I also expected myself to look perfect. So there was a time in my life when I would eat very little. Or eat a lot and take some laxatives to deal with what I ate. I even made myself throw up sometimes when I felt so disgusted with myself for having had such poor self-control. These self-destructive behaviours never became a pattern for me; nor did they become engrained in my lifestyle to the point that they took over and consumed me. But there was a time in my late teen years when I was tempted to use them from time to time, and the fact that I dabbled in them on and off illustrates that I was not thinking properly about myself. If I had the body now at 40 that I had at 19, I’d be thrilled!! God thankfully showed me the truth about my worth in my very early twenties and freed me from this unrealistic expectation of myself that led to daily self-condemnation and some unhealthy behaviours at times.
I know I’m not the only one who has struggled in this way, which is why I’m sharing this with you now. The only person who knew this about me before I wrote this part of the chapter was my husband. I’m sharing so you know I’m not perfect, and because I’m free from condemnation, I can share my “failures” publicly without fear of condemnation. Sort of “proof,” if you will, that I am truly free. Because if I was not free from condemnation, I would be worried about being judged for admitting to those struggles. Not that some of you won’t judge me—you will. But that doesn’t bother me anymore. Because I truly understand that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus, so I’m okay with not being perceived as perfect anymore. (Do you hear the lie I used to believe? That these things made me seem perfect? I can hear the lie, loud and clear.)
I also share it so you know that this no-condemnation stuff isn’t just some theory I’ve never had opportunity to practically apply in my own life. I’ve struggled. I’ve lived both sides of what I’m writing about…the self-condemnation side and the no-condemnation side. And the no-condemnation side is way better, so I want it for you as well.
Maybe you can’t relate to my personal example. We are all unique. And some people are blessed with fewer traps in this area of their lives. They are able to let go and not condemn self and others more easily than other people are. If that’s you, take a moment and thank God for that tremendous blessing in your life, because it truly is one. For those of you who have read this chapter and are noticing that God is tugging at you about areas of your life that you have accepted condemnation for, despite what Jesus has done for you, write those areas down somewhere, like that journal we talked about earlier. Then, give them
