Today’s story from the Book of John talks about a woman who was in trouble, but Jesus stood up for her! I’m so excited to talk about it. One day, Jesus was teaching people. While He was teaching, some of the other teachers who were jealous of Jesus, called Pharisees, brought a woman to Him. The woman had sinned, and they wanted to punish her. Remember, sinning is when we know the right thing to do, but we do the wrong thing anyway. Just like our parents correct us when we do something wrong, God corrects us when we do the wrong thing, too.
Even though the woman was in trouble and should have been punished, Jesus stopped the people. He told them that it was not their job to hurt her because that was the wrong thing to do, too. Nobody is perfect, except Jesus. That’s why He didn’t want the other people to hurt her – Jesus wanted to teach them the right thing to do.
After the crowd went away, Jesus taught her about forgiveness. Forgiveness is when you are kind to someone even when they did something wrong - and you don’t even remind them of what they did wrong. That’s how Jesus forgives us – He tells us that He loves us even when we do the wrong thing.
Even though Jesus did not want the Pharisees to hurt the woman, He did want the woman to know the truth. He told her to stop sinning and doing the wrong thing because she knew better. He told her that He wanted her to do the right thing and follow God because God loved her so much!
Just like the woman in this story, Jesus loves us even when we sin and do the wrong thing. He always forgives us if we ask Him to forgive us, and He always encourages us to do the right thing and follow God. We should always try our best to do the right thing and forgive others when they hurt us instead of trying to hurt them back.
How can we try our best to forgive others?
Is there somebody in your life that you need to forgive?
Is there somebody that you need to ask to forgive you?
How can you share God’s love with someone this week?
Prayer: God, thank You for forgiving me when I do the wrong thing! Help me to trust You and listen to what You tell me so that I don’t continue to sin. I know that it hurts Your heart when I don’t listen to You, and I want to obey You always! Please help me to forgive others who have hurt me too, and remind them that I still love them just like You love me. I’m so grateful that You are always there to help me and to be with me, no matter what. I love you, God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.