I’ve never met anyone as non-judgmental as Jesus. If you’ve ever spent time in deep, meditative worship in his presence you know what I’m talking about. The more I learn of his heart for me, the more I fall in love with him.

In the scripture, when the religious leaders thrust the woman caught in adultery at his feet, demanding that the law be fulfilled, Jesus answered with grace. Because their hearts were blinded by religion, all they saw was a law breaker. A woman of disgust who needed to be punished. A woman who didn’t measure up. Plus, they had a chance to force this, “Christ”, to judge her in front of them all.

Jesus didn’t see what they saw. Praise God that he didn’t. Praise God that he doesn’t! He saw the value of this hurting, frightened woman and reached out with grace and love.

He who is without sin, cast the first stone.

I’ve been in both places. I’ve been a woman needing grace and I’ve been a Pharisee. It’s funny how many roles we can play without recognizing the hypocrisy.

There is one instance that stands out to me in particular. Several years ago, a friend of mine was blatantly making poor choices. She was compromising in ways she always said she wouldn’t. I was angry, affronted and ready to get her back in line! I’m going to let you in on the little rant that went on in my head and God’s quiet interruption of my self-righteous indignation:

“How dare she! She says she’s a Christian.

Well if she is so Godly, then she better fix herself.

And she said she’d never act this way!

Next time I see her I’m just going to tell her! I’m just going to say..”

His patient voice interrupted with one poignant sentence, “There is a difference between the heart of the Father and the heart of a Pharisee.”

I was rather shocked. Long pause….. “I’m sorry Lord.”

He is like that. Succinct. He’ll stop my rants, change my mind and humble my heart with a single sentence. I immediately repented. The anger dissipated. All of the sudden a wave of love for this girl washed over me. I felt the Father’s heart for her. She was precious, queenly, radiantly loved!

As you truly get to know the Father’s heart, you’ll find that in his presence you can breathe. You are excepted. You can belt out your praise out of tune, you can cry, you can scream in frustration. You are loved right now where you are. You never have to be good enough to come to him, you never have to fix yourself first. That’s what Jesus died for. So you can come boldly. He sees you as pure and beautiful and unique.

I still needed to have that conversation with her, but the heart behind it had radically changed. Instead of coming from a place of judgement, I was coming from a place of love. Instead of playing the part of judge, jury and executioner, I was saying, “You are radiantly loved right now. You have the dignity of Christ woven into your very being. That is why it breaks my heart to see you making choices that bog you down and put you in bondage. Walk in the freedom you were created for.”

That’s God’s heart for us. When he corrects, it is always coming from a place of love and it is always for our good. The saying may be well used but it’s true:

He loves us where we are at. But He loves us too much to let us stay there.

He is always leading us towards greater levels of freedom. But his gentle nudges and even stern corrections will always be backed by love.

A Part of Renewing Your Mind:

• Know that neither you or anyone else needs to clean themselves up before coming to God. That is what Jesus died for. If we give him our hearts, he’ll help us change our habits.
• If you ever feel you need to give a word of correction to someone do a heart-check first. Dont come as judge, jury and executioner. Make sure you have the Father’s heart on the matter.