Exposed to the Light!
My wife is a great judge of character. She is not the loud in your face personality that seems to be so prevalent in society. She is quite and yet very aware of people and their actions. She genuinely loves people, kids, our grandkids and she cares for them deeply. I use her keen sense of observation to supplement my lack of those exact skills. She always sees the good in people even when most people only see the bad, the weaknesses, and the sin. I value her skill so much.
We, believers in Jesus Christ, are not perfect and it is through our weaknesses, our failings, and our awareness of our sin that we come humbly to the feet of Jesus. We who follow Jesus are not condemned, we are forgiven and saved. Then God, who loves us dearly, goes to work, not to condemn, but to transform us.
My next favorite passage of scripture may be one of the most recognized passages of scripture of all time, JOHN 3:16. But, when I read John 3:16, I am drawn to read beyond those familiar verses and continue all the way to verse 21. I also typically read in the NIV, but today I will continue with the NLT for a little NEWNESS:
"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. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness for than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants." (John 3:16-21, NLT)
People don't like to come to church or to even hang out with followers of JESUS for fear their sins will be exposed. We Christians all know the sin we come from and the sins we still fight in our imperfection. We understand the perfect gift of grace and the perfect gift of forgiveness. We are drawn to the light. Even though that light exposes our weaknesses, we love the light, we adore the warmth, love, mercy, and grace it provides us through JESUS.
Our weaknesses are often exposed and the whole world can see it all. Fake Christians and non-beleivers continue to try to hide their weaknesses and failings. They want to appear perfect, even when everyone knows they are not. We need to bathe in the light of Jesus and all that God does to heal us from our Sin, to transform us in our weakness. Being open and real is so important to draw people out of the darkness. Exposing our sins shouldn't be painful, it should be freeing. Walking on the journey of transformation is an exciting journey everyone should take!
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