Daily Journal: 21 August

I Don’t Condemn You

Jesus, son of God, Designer and Creator of all, came in human flesh to declare God’s Kingdom. He was crucified on a Roman cross to take away our sin. Yet, even while we sin, He say’s to us, “I don’t condemn you”. Even those who crucified Him, He asked the Father not to hold it against them.

What kind of love is that?

Do you know that sin is too much for us to bear? Sin is a burden that we carry. It’s brutally heavy. It’s bad for our hearts. It’s harsh on our minds. It ages our bodies.

Psalm 38:4 (NASB)

For my guilty deeds have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

We don't always recognise sin because we’ve become hardened or defensive, but it still weighs heavily on us until we recognise what we’re like.

Sin isn’t only about us as individuals, it’s about the grievance sin causes as a group of people.

Isaiah 1:4 (NLT)

Oh, what a sinful nation they are—loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Sin is an offense to God. It causes shame when we criticise and condemn each other – both for ourselves and the one we’re condemning. It causes grief when we disregard and dismiss each other, betraying trust in relationships. It shows pride and self-righteousness when we justify behaviour that meets certain desires at the expense of others. It shows impatience or intolerance when we don’t consider others. It causes insecurities when we’re ridiculed or bullied; believing lies that others project on us rather than the hope that God’s love affirms us in. Sometimes we carry the sin of others' against us, without realising it.

Sin causes us to be weak and separates us from the One person who takes that burden away.

Sin is an offense to God because He sent His one and only son to cover the burden of our sin, yet we don’t receive His covering. We carry our sin as if it’s worth something. What can it possibly be worth?

Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Sin brings condemnation and is a robber. It steals our joy and our confidence. It sweeps away hope. Carrying the burden of sin is wearying and aging.

Jesus came to replace that and carry those burdens. He sent the Holy Spirit to help us.

We are invited to live in freedom; to leave things with Him and live in the relief of what Jesus has done.

John 3:17 (ESV)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.