John 8: 2-11 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. There are many lessons we can learn from this story, but one of the little lessons that I picked out comes from verse 6: "Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not." In this beautiful painting, we see Jesus taking a moment to be quiet, to be still, and to contemplate. The image of his hand over His mouth is very symbolic in my opinion. Perhaps He is teaching us that when faced with hard situations, we need to learn how to respond instead of react.
When we react, we are often quick to make judgments and let our emotions get the best of us. Responding can look more like pausing, contemplating, and taking a moment to get in tune with our hearts and the Holy Ghost, so that truth, love, and peace can be our motivator. Peaceful and true solutions usually take time, patience, a connection to God, and will always lead us back to love, trust, and righteous judgement. The Come Follow Me manual quotes Elder Dale G. Renlund: "Surely, the Savior did not condone adultery. But He also did not condemn the woman. He encouraged her to reform her life. She was motivated to change because of His compassion and mercy. " Taking time to be quiet and still and call upon the answers only the Holy Ghost can give, will help us motivate others and ourselves to change because of the compassion and mercy that can come from communing with God. "Be Still, and Know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
1 Comment
Kitch
5/6/2019 09:02:17 pm
John 8:7-10 is a very powerful passage for me. The lesson I was taught from this scripture was the need for careful self-reflection whenever judgement of another person is taking place. Be objective, not subjective and ensure that you are being fair, careful, and practicing righteous judgement. Be mindful and careful; avoid being foolish and/or naive.
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I'm Alicia Banta
Christian. Mom. Wife. Writer. Lover of life. Archives
January 2021
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