Who am I to Judge?

I am ashamed to share, but because God is so great and this moment for me was so awesome I will lay down my pride and be honest. A few years ago a lot of ugliness happened in the lives of some of my friends, there was adultery and the dissolution of marriages and it all took place at the time I was moving away. So, while life has moved on for those involved, I am still stuck in the past.

I have a very hard time with harboring resentment towards the individuals who caused all of this and still find myself lying in bed at night angry that it happened. Silly I know - it is just my flesh. I think maybe the reason that it is so hard for me is because it is my biggest fear? One night last week I was lying in bed thinking a mess of mean spirited thoughts and was unable to sleep. I felt the Lord tell me to go read my bible. I argued with him, it was 1 in the morning, I was sure that it wasn't God, it was me just being restless. Half an hour later, still wide awake I prayed, "Alright Lord, if you are going to make me get up, you need to tell me what to read."

John 8:6 rushed my mind before I finished my prayer. Still not convinced it was God (because I am a doubter) I reluctantly picked up my Bible and sat out on the sofa. Flipped to John 8:6 and read:

"They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger."



If you know your Bible you know where this is going. I'll back up a bit:

"But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

WOW! The Lord humbled my heart. Who am I to sit in judgement of another? I too have sinned and to God it is no different than the sin of adultery. Some Pastor's take on this passage is that Jesus bent down and starting writing the names of the woman's accusers in the sand and their sins. What would the Lord have written about me?

Thank you Lord for reminding me that you are God and I am not. Forgive me prideful heart. In Jesus name, Amen