OR THIS:
And it makes me concerned that my children are learning too much how to point the finger, and not enough about Christ and His teachings. I expressed this to Robert and we decided that for the next several months, our Family Nights will center on just that: the teachings of Jesus Christ from the New Testament. It has been the most refreshing, spiritual, and uplifting experience hearing again of the miracles that Jesus performed during His life, and I have been able once again to feel a sense of spirituality, instead of simply religiosity (and those two things are quite different). A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the "Sinner" woman who washed Jesus' feet:
Luke 7:
38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
There is nothing more beautiful and touching than talking with your children about Jesus and the many miracles He performed during His life. It can be easy to get sidetracked onto less significant things that end up consuming our lives and views of other people. We may also mistakenly start to use these things as yard sticks of others' righteousness when they pale in comparison to the loftier attributes of compassion, empathy, and understanding. And while children need to learn discernment and the ability to judge in order to protect themselves, oftentimes, I feel we inadvertantly teach them to judge much more harshly than they should or is necessary for their "protection". Did Jesus point His finger at the sinner and say, "Oh my gosh! I can't believe what this woman did!" and then talk about it incessantly to all those around Him? No. Did He shield himself from the Sinner because He was too good for her, or in order to punish her? No. He simply forgave her because "she loved much." How I love hearing the stories of Jesus again.
5 comments:
Yes - I agree. Our very friendly and kind neighbor smokes and she is always sitting outside on her porch and Brook has become her good friend. Brook came to me crying one day because she said that she was afraid that she would turn into a bad person like the neighbor because she liked her. She was SO relieved when I told her that she wasn't a bad person. Later, the neighbor told me that Brook had been telling her she was a bad person - she laughed it off, but I could tell it kind of hurt her feelings. I had to have a talk about that with Brook and thankfully that has stopped. I did also explain that smoking was not good for her health but it doesn't make someone "bad".
Also, have you seen this?
A young non-Mormon mother writes about her experience living in Utah.
http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon640.htm
Amen.
I Love the quote you told me the other day by Wayne Dyer,
"When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself as someone who needs to judge".
Life is hard enough without someone standing on the sidelines of your life (typically with blinders on) trying to sum up and judge you, your circumstances, your decisions or your beliefs from the comfort of their overinflated self-righteous view point.
Christ was about lifting up and loving others. In fact the only times you saw him judging others or getting upset was against hypocritical religious zealots (those who actively judge others) and those who defile that which is sacred.
The kicker is Christ's statement--You will be judged as you judge others. I hope we can all be a little kinder and when our day comes due, He will be kind to us.
Of course you know I agree, as we've had this conversation before. I honestly dread having to have these type of conversations with my kids, but living in Utah I'll have no choice. They will hear that tank tops and two pieces are bad and anyone wearing them is bad, if boys don't go on missions they are bad, etc. etc. etc. Sigh.
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