“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.””John8:9-11
I love this story. I can relate to this woman, and to her shame and her guilt. And it's this story that most represents Jesus to me, and the freedom he gives. Adam and I refrained from having sex for 10 months prior to our wedding, we had just become Christians, and we had the verses "Go and sin no more" at our bedside. We knew we were free to make our own choices and that we were not condemned and it was experiencing His love in this way that lifted us out of our sin.
It strikes me as I read this story that we don't know what happened next, did this lady go and sin no more or did she slip into the same patterns and behaviour? Was this interaction with Jesus pivotal for her life? Did it change her- did she let it change her?
Did she need to remind herself of Jesus' words?
You see, what I've found on my journey is that with Grace comes a beautiful freedom, but with freedom comes choice and responsibility. The right choice is usually the most difficult, to stop promiscuous behaviour, to stop watching pornography, to be honest and confess to lying, to start giving your money more freely. He gave us freedom; Grace gives us freedom. And then we are left with a choice.