In the middle of your mess…

I have been studying women of the Bible for the month of May. I thought it was the right thing to do since Mother’s Day is in May. During my studying, I came across two women; the woman at the well, and the adulterous woman. Something just stood out to me about these women, and as I dug in and started to study it, I was impressed by Jesus’ actions towards both of them. Let me give you a little background about them both so that you can understand what I’m talking about.

The woman at the well was known as the woman who had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. She had no friends so she would walk to the well to draw water at the opposite time that everyone else would. She walked to the well during the hottest hours where everyone else walked in the morning or later in the evening when it wasn’t so hot, so she didn’t have to face the ridicule of others.

The adulteress woman is pretty self-explanatory. Scripture says that this woman was caught in the very act. She was committing adultery, and the scribes and Pharisees brought her to Jesus to basically tell on her and see her suffer the consequences of her actions.

So, as I am reading both of these stories I couldn’t help, but see Jesus’ tender, loving, care towards them. Jesus met the woman at the well right in “her mess” and broke the law to even talk to her. The adulteress woman knew she had done wrong. She was brought to the court to face judgment. But, guess what?! Jesus didn’t condemn her; he met her. in “her mess.”

Many of us, and I’ve been guilty of it too, would automatically look at these females and gossip about them. We would say can you believe she had 5 husbands and she is living with someone and they are not married. Or for the adulteress women, we may say, can you believe so and so is cheating with this person. We are so quick to pass judgment on people instead of looking at them like Jesus looked at them and showing them the love and care that Jesus would show them.

If we really think about it, we all can think back to a time where we did something that we had no business doing. You may have cheated, lied, stole, slept around, shacked up, drank, smoked, and the list can on and on, but you get the point. We all have done something that we could’ve gotten in trouble for. We are not perfect, and we sin daily, but why is it okay to point the finger at others and not ourselves?

Just as Jesus loved on these two women, Jesus still sees us and loves on us in “our mess.” Some may have overcome their mess and others may be going through their mess, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus still forgives and He still loves. If He forgave these two women, what makes you think that he won’t forgive that person who is lying, cheating, stealing, etc.

Let this be your encouragement. That it doesn’t matter one’s “mess,” God still loves them, and He still calls us to love them in the middle of their mess. It doesn’t take pointing out someone’s flaws and mistakes for them to change. I have found that loving on someone does a lot more than condemning someone.

When I was working as an escort and going to church, they didn’t condemn me and point fingers at me. You know what they did?! They just “LOVED” on me and walked with me through my mess until I overcame it. Now, they didn’t condone it, but they loved the sinner and hated the sin. It was through them loving me that I got the strength to overcome. Jesus loved on these two women and the love and kindness he showed them help them change their current situation.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, who you’ve done, or what you’ve done wrong Jesus still loves you! And, next time you think to talk about someone, why not do what Jesus did, and meet them in their mess, love on them, or pray for them from close and afar. Let’s start to spread and show the love of Jesus!