What is Free Step Friday (#freestepfriday)? Click here for details.
Scripture
3 Nephi 9:21—Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.
The Lord declared this same message when He said, “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John 12:47)
My image of God experienced a mighty change when I read this verse of scripture. I felt the Spirit witness to me that Christ’s first and foremost purpose was not to judge me (at least, not yet), but to save me.
Suddenly, I understood that I didn’t have to hide from Him while I desperately, and futilely, tried to get my own act together. I did not need to fear that He would judge me negatively if He saw me as I was.
The Savior wasn’t sitting at the end of my trail of tears and pain and mighty change, waiting to judge how well I had done slogging through it on my own. In Spirit and Truth, He was walking with me all along, suffering with me, saving me. He had given His life for the opportunity to be with me during my darkest hour of deepest sin, despite my worst defects of behavior and of character. Why should I fear my Savior?
Truly, I began to “enter upon a new relationship with my Creator,” as a “new-found Friend.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 13)
Application:
For the next several hours, allow yourself to imagine that the Lord is walking with you through your day. Take the judgment gavel out of His hand and simply enjoy His saving presence. Ponder and write about the difference between enjoying Him in your life as your Savior and your Friend instead of as your Judge. How does it affect your behavior to receive the Savior in this manner?
~Excerpted from Patterns of Light I ©2013, 2000 Hearthaven Publishing
©2013 Hearthaven Publishing. All rights reserved.