Be known for what you're for.

Series: Asking for a Friend | Week 4: Messy Grace

John 8:2-8
...but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.


The Pharisees were against the woman who committed adultery. Although Jesus didn’t agree with this woman’s choice (or with the man who committed the same choice with her), he never devalued her. He loved her!

It’s possible to disagree with someone’s choice and still love and value them. Biblical beliefs should never be a basis to devalue another human being. Be known more for what you’re for, not what you’re against.

Today, think about your own relationships. Ask God to help you see where you may need to change your posture, showing compassion and empathy toward people, being known more for what you’re for and not what you’re against in their lives.

Asking for a Friend