More from McManus’s Soul Cravings
If those who are the religious elite are closest to God, why is it that they are so rarely closest to love?
If God is love, those who know God best would love people most. Jesus said he came not to condemn the world, but to bring the world life. Why is it that so many who represent him are ever so quick to condemn? All her accusers could see was a woman guilty of adultery. There’s always so much more behind these stories -a woman abused by her husband searching for love; a little girl abused by a relative, who would forever confuse love with sex; a prostitute who would sell love for a price but had none to give.
If Jesus’ encounter with this unnamed adulterous woman tells us anything, it reveals the unexpected truth that the safest place for a sinful person to go is to God. He and he alone is the only One who will neither condemn us nor leave us in our brokenness. On the mount of Olives she found herself most alone and discovered the unimaginable – God wanted her. God was her place to belong, and this reality became the beginning of new things. That may be the most powerful thing about love. Love gives us a fresh start . Love gives us a reason to live.
When life isn’t what it should be, love gives us the strength to endure whatever may come.