“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17

There is a perception that many have of God. They see Him as a judge who looks down on us from His place in heaven and waits for us to fail. He gives us a list of rules that are impossible to follow, then damns us to hell if we break one. Why would a God who supposedly loves us make it so hard to live on this earth and make it to heaven? 

As Christians, we may not fall into this thinking as easily, because we recognize that, “God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten son, that whoever should believe in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) We’ve memorized this verse and seen it at every sporting event. But sometimes, in the moment of our own failings, we can forget. In our own darkness brought on by sin, all we can hear is the voice of the enemy condemning and telling us that God is unjust in holding us to a standard impossible to uphold. That we are too weak to ever truly be someone God could love. 

But Jesus knew we’d feel that way sometimes and He tells us today, that He didn’t come to condemn, He came to save. Read that again. From His own lips, he reminds us that He came to save! The rules God has put down for us are not to bind us but to free us. They give us a fenced in yard to play in so that we are not out in the street with the traffic that can harm us. Consider this, Bishop Fulton Sheen, years ago taught that before we sin, the enemy wants us to see God as a strict father who won’t let us do what we want. He encourages us through temptation to believe that this sin is actually not something wrong, but that we are bound by unjust rules. But the moment we give in to the temptation to sin, the enemy becomes our accuser, reminding us how awful we are, and that God could not love us anymore because our sin is too great. 

God on the other hand is there with us as we are faced with this temptation trying to help us see that this sin would hurt us and His admonition to turn away is not there to restrict us but to protect us. God does not bring condemnation, yet He will prick our conscience at times to help us see we may be headed down a wrong path. Yet, when we fall, as we often do, He is not the one condemning us. His voice is one of love and mercy calling us back home with a heart of repentance and telling us that it is okay. He took on our sins and died for us, so that we could be saved. He still loves us, and we are welcomed back over and over again. 

Reflection Questions: How can you better recognize which voice is speaking to your heart? Does the thinking you are entertaining bring you peace or chaos? Look at the teachings of our church that you struggle with and ask the Lord to show you how these things are meant for freedom and not restrictions.