Today we’ll be talking about overcoming condemnation.
Have you ever felt like you couldn’t come to God? That you had been condemned by religious people or somehow you just did not measure up?
Today, I want to help you break that lie of condemnation off your life.
Mark 2:17
The scripture for today is Mark 2:17
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (NIV).”
In this passage, we see that the pharisees condemn tax collectors and sinners, they even condemn Jesus sitting with them.
Jesus had not just called Levi the tax collector. He went to his house for dinner.
In verse 2:16 the pharisees ask, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
You see, the Pharisees thought of themselves as a better than everyone else.
They thought the tax collectors and sinners to be the lowest of the low. And so, they were asking, “Why does Jesus want to eat with them?”
Remember What Jesus Said
Have you ever felt that people treated you as if you were the lowest of the low? Or as if Jesus couldn’t help you, or they were just better than you in some way?
That especially hurts when it comes from religious people, people who say that they’re Christians and then act like they’re not.
A small but powerful step in overcoming condemnation is focusing on the truth of Jesus instead of others.
Look again at what Jesus says in Mark 2:17:
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
It’s the people who know that they need Him.
Jesus Calls Tax Collectors and Sinners to Himself
Jesus didn’t condemn the tax collectors and sinners. He didn’t walk around with His nose in the air thinking that He was better than them.
He called them to Himself.
And then, He went to dinner with them.
He sat with them.
And wanted them to get to know Him.
That’s not someone who condemns you, who sits with you, and wants to get to know you, who wants to get to know what you have to say, and what you think.
Someone who wants to speak into your life and help you to heal.
He called Levi to be His disciple. To follow Him. He wanted to work in the Levi’s life.
That’s not someone who condemns.
Another part of overcoming condemnation is realizing that Jesus calls you to Himself, meeting you right where you are.
Jesus Does not Condemn You
Dear sister. Jesus does not condemn your brokenness, your past, or anything that you have gone through.
He does not condemn you, but He wants to heal you.
He wants to work in your life.
He wants to heal your brokenness and He wants to help you to walk free of shame and condemnation.
The How to of Overcoming Condemnation
When you feel that condemnation, whether it is coming from within yourself or it’s coming from others around you, remember again, what Jesus said.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Can I pray for you today?
Father God, I pray for my sister in Christ who feels broken, who feels disheartened, who feels shame. And I pray Father, that You would reach down, and You would show her that You do not condemn her. That she’s not too broken for You. That You love her, and You want to spend time with her. Father, speak into her life and pull her out of that shame and condemnation.
I pray father, that she would have the courage to open the door of her heart to You. That she would allow you to come in and see what is within her and know that You do not condemn any of it. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
Next week we will be touching on chapter four of Healing the Father Wound.
