John 8

Chapter 8

As I look back on my life, I can see so many ways in which I haven't followed the Savior's example in my personal actions and the way I treat other people. To me, the way in which the Savior reacts to the woman brought to him in adultery, and to the men who accuse her, exemplifies his love and acceptance more than any other time in the New Testament except for the atonement and crucifixion itself. Too often we think of ourselves and how people's actions affect us rather than how our reactions affect them, and how their actions harm them. I can see why the Savior says to pray for charity with all the energy of your heart. In this instance, it was like the Savior was saying we have all sinned; we know we have. And what sin isn't serious if it creates a greater gulf between us and God? I think he wold prefer that we worry about our own sins instead of making an example of someone else who has sinned. Instead of compassion, we tend to separate ourselves from those we know who sin by condemning then in hopes that others won't see our own failures. This action by the Savior doesn't change the consequences of the woman's sin, but does teach us how we should treat each other and have more compassion for those we know who don't measure up to our own standards or the standards of the gospel. This is especially important when we consider how others who don't have the gospel should be treated.

Later in this chapter, the Savior makes a sharp difference between those who believe in him and the Pharisees who don't. The Pharisees claim that being children of Abraham make them righteous and therefore saved. The Savior tells them they don't know God at all, that if they knew God, they would do the acts of God. To those who believe on him, he has a great message. All they have to do is continue believing on him, continue living righteously. In that discipleship is freedom.