PROVERBS 16:6

"By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
    and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil." (ESV)

"Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
    through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided." (NIV)

"Unfailing love and faithfulness make atonement for sin.
    By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil." (NLT)

Mercy, love and truth: just as Jesus demonstrated to the adulterous woman mentioned in John 8:1-11: 

- the one who was "caught in the very act of adultery" by some scribes and Pharisees 

- whom they wanted to stone according to the command of the law of Moses 

- to whose accusers Jesus said: "He who is without sin among you must be the first to throw a stone at her."

- "But when they heard this, accused by their conscience, they went out one by one, beginning from the oldest to the last; and only Jesus was left, and the woman who was in the middle."

- to whom Jesus then asked: "Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no one condemned you?"

- to which, when she answered: "None, Lord." He said to her: "Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more."

Jesus spoke and acted truthfully. Because he never denied the woman's sin of adultery; he never ignored it; He never excused it; he never justified it; He never defended him. He called her transgression by its true name: sin. And he told him at the end of the conversation not to sin anymore. 

But also, in contrast to the scribes and the Pharisees, he spoke and acted with mercy and love. He knew and understood that no human being except Him is without sin - and that, therefore, no human being except Him has the right to cast stones of accusation and condemnation at any other. And yet - He had every right to do so - he didn't do it. He spoke and acted in infinite mercy and infinite love: forgiving out of pure grace, wanting to save her and not blame and sentence her; restoring his dignity and honor; rejecting sin, but loving the sinner. 

Because he also knew and understood that the human being turns away from and avoids sin, not with the scourge that is given to him or the whip that is given to him, but when the fear of God is instilled in him, and when respect for God is instilled in him. inspire. 

Sadly, human beings in general are more like the scribes and Pharisees and less like Jesus. We prefer to focus on the speck we see in our brother's eye, rather than worrying about the log in our own eye. (Matthew 7:3) We choose to cast stones of judgment, sometimes even against our self-accused conscience, instead of forgiving and correcting sin with mercy and love. 

May God help us not to judge, so that one day later we ourselves will not be judged; not to accuse or condemn others, so that we may not be accused and condemned. (Matthew 7:1) "For you will be treated the same way you treat others. The standard you use to judge others is the standard by which you will be judged." (Matthew 7:2) May we be people full of grace, mercy and love for others - recognizing that we ourselves have received grace, mercy and love from God. 

"Because there will be a judgment without mercy 

for those who act without compassion. 

Compassion triumphs in judgment!"

(James 2:13)

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