No condemnation

A few months back God did a  beautiful thing for me which helped me start this journey into really believing in His grace to me.

I was reading John 3:16 which I know so well, but when I read the next verse it struck me like I’d never heard it before:

‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but order that the world might be saved through him.’ John 3:17

I realised that is not how I was living. It was almost as if I’d become a Christian in order to feel condemned.  I thought the normal mode of living as a Christian was to feel guilty and rubbish about my failures and inability to live up to God’s standard.

God showed me He does not want to condemn. He has done everything possible in order that He does not have to condemn me. He wants me to be set free from condemnation.

Then I read Romans 8:1 ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’. It does not say ‘There is no condemnation for those who have managed to get it all right.’

It is not dependent on my performance but on my position – being in Christ Jesus. All I have to do is be His and He has done everything needed to make that possible.

I was almost a bit scandalized at the thought of not feeling condemned but the Word of God spelt it out pretty clearly.

However, I was still rather stuck in my negative way of thinking about myself and so God had to do more.  For about a fortnight, every time I thought a negative thought about myself, put myself down, felt guilty or condemned, it was as if God had one of those huge inflatable mallets.  He would (lovingly!) donk me on the head with it and whisper “No condemnation!” in my ear.

For example, a visitor came on a Sunday and we had no milk. I went to the shop to get milk feeling guilty – if I do buy milk, then I’m shopping on a Sunday; if I don’t buy milk I can’t offer our visitor a drink. Either way I feel rubbish. I can’t win.

Suddenly: DONK! “No condemnation!” 

My response, “What God? How can  you not condemn me? I’m still on the way to buy the milk!”

God said “You’re doing it to show love to your visitor. I love you and I don’t condemn you even while you are going to the shop and buying the milk.”

I’m still a bit shocked that God would say that to me, but I know it didn’t come from me.

He had to donk me on the head again and again.  I was amazed how often I thought negatively about myself in a day and how often I  had to keep hearing this message.  I had to keep hearing it again and again in order to begin to let myself believe it.

I have it stuck in several places around my house because I need to keep taking hold of this precious truth.

Thank you Father for the beautiful, crazy, loving way you helped me change my negative thought patterns. Thank you that you don’t condemn me because you don’t condemn Jesus. I am found in Him, clothed in His righteousness.

I pray you will use this post to help more of your children to live free from condemnation also. Amen