FaithWriters Sun., Jan. 29, 2012
Honeybee Rhoads
FaithWriters
Sun., Jan. 29, 2012
Our Daily Devotional:
For All Have Sinned
Matthew 7:1-2, NIV: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Some time ago, I wrote a devotional wherein the first line read: "Homosexuality is sin." Subsequently, I received an email from a church site webmaster asking me how to remove my devotional from the site. She explained that though she had enjoyed the devotionals, what I had written offended members of the church whose site she administered. My heart sunk. I sent a heartfelt reply along with the requested instructions. Oddly enough, the intent of the devotional was to start with something most Christians easily point to as sin, and then to turn the focus to those sins that might often be overlooked. The intent was to draw our thoughts back to the fact that we are all sinners. Not one of us has the right to judge another; to look at someone else and say "Thank you God that I am not like this sinner." I am a sinner covered in the blood of Jesus. That's what gives me a right standing with God--nothing that I have done. In our fallen world, sin is a part of our human condition. If we see our sinfulness for what it is, there is no wiggle room for us to point fingers at anyone else. Our response, instead, should be to say, "God be merciful to us all..." and to remember that sin has left its mark on each of us. Scripture is clear regarding sin. Sin is still sin. Those whose sins are not like mine do not need me to lift up a sign to tell them so. They need me to lift up Christ as an extension of His love and grace, so that they can see I believe they have as much right to fall at the foot of the cross as I.
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