Archive for the ‘No Condemnation’ Category

In Gratitude for Love Over Guilt

November 20, 2017

angel with hands over faceNo question about it, 2017 has been the best year of my life.

I have so much to be thankful for, including getting married to a dear man who is my partner in every way, moving back to scenic West Virginia into a vintage craftsman-style house-of-my-dreams located in a quaint historic village, and working at what I love from my home office. Of course, I have my beautiful daughters and extended family, including all the new family I married into.

In reflecting on my many blessings, of course God’s faithfulness comes to mind and this one thing especially:

No more guilt.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus… (Romans 8:1)

We are so often plagued by guilty feelings. Even though the Bible and the pastor keep telling us we are forgiven, it seems like guilt should be the natural response to our inability to shake free of sin. It’s like we think guilt is a fruit of the Spirit, but it’s not. (Read More)

The Adulterous Woman: We Are Her

August 12, 2014

How could those Jewish leaders in John 8 so mercilessly humiliate a woman caught in the act of adultery? Spend a little time reading the Old Testament prophets, and you’ll get a bit of a clue. Here’s a little sample from Ezekiel:

“The noise of a carefree crowd was around her; drunkards were brought from the desert along with men from the rabble, and they put bracelets on the wrists of the woman and her sister and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now let them use her as a prostitute, for that is all she is.’ And they slept with her. As men sleep with a prostitute, so they slept with those lewd women, Oholah and Oholibah. But righteous judges will sentence them to the punishment of women who commit adultery and shed blood, because they are adulterous and blood is on their hands.” (Ezekiel 23:42-45; read all of this chapter to get the full story)

Adultery was frequently the metaphor used by God for the idolatry of Israel and Judah. Hosea and Jeremiah used it too:

“They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery.” Hosea 4:13

“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.” Jeremiah 3:8

Reading these passages (along with the warnings about adulterous women in Proverbs) can lead a reader who is so inclined to conclude that God hates women who commit adultery. (Read More)

Putting Guilt in Its Place

January 19, 2012

As I read a new Christian book recently, I realized that I am often selfishly concerned about my physical appearance and what people think of me. A familiar feeling of guilt rose up in my heart. Like you, I want to please God, but when I compare myself to the ideals of scripture and the sinless perfection of Jesus, it seems like I will never do enough or be enough. Since I know I’ll never get life completely right, it almost seems like it would be wrong not to experience a pervasive sense of guilt. Read more of this guest post I wrote for the blog Jennifer Slattery Lives Out Loud.