Adored By The God Who Sees MeEsimerkki

God Looks Beyond Our Sins and Failures 

Everything Jesus said and did while on earth was purposeful, loving and truthful. This is evident in His encounter with the Samaritan woman. He connected her physical need for water to her spiritual need for the only thing that could satisfy the longings of her heart—the living water that only He could offer. 

Jesus’ loving words pierced her soul, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:  13–14 NIV). Something deep within her grasped that He was talking about more than water. Please, she thought, help me! Fill this inner thirst that never goes away!

The unexpected encounter with a Stranger whose quiet manners caught her off guard made her realize her thirst. She thirsted for answers to lift her out of her lowly station in life, answers that would make it unnecessary to take this lonely walk to the well each day. She wanted to scream, Yes! Please give me living water, give me what my soul is aching for.

Jesus looked into her wounded spirit and said, “Go, bring your husband back here to the well.” Shame enveloped her. 

“I have no husband,” she answered. 

“That’s right. In fact, you have had five husbands and you are not married to the man you are with now” (verses 16-18).

She nervously raised her eyes to look at Him, expecting the customary disdain. She saw no condemnation in His gaze, but something else. He knew about her sin, but He did not look away or step back to distance Himself from her. 

Jesus didn't use His prophetic revelation about her past and present relationships to condemn her or to make her feel guilty and shamed. Instead, he used it to open her heart to the truth, leading to the answer she needed—redemption.

Jesus defied the mores and culture of the day by speaking to a woman of despised origins and a disdained reputation. He saw a lost soul worth saving, and that is what He still sees today. 

He sees you, dear one. He sees your deepest needs as no one else can. He sees you, He loves you, and He values you. He wants to fulfill the needs of your life as nothing and no one else can!

Journal Prompt

As Christians, God calls each one of us to walk in freedom, not bound by guilt and shame. If you still carry guilt and shame from past mistakes, consider writing out some of the verses in today’s reading and tape them to your mirror or fridge, set them as your phone wallpaper, or commit them to memory. Let the Word of God wash your heart and mind with His loving forgiveness and fill you with the truth.