Compassion doesn’t equal condoning."

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book, One at a Time (p. 117). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

And there is a difference.

Kyle says, "If you show someone compassion and they confuse that as condoning, that is a mistake on their part because the two are not the same. Jesus did not condemn the woman (caught in adultery) but did tell her to go and sin no more."

He continues, "We aren’t telling people, 'God loves you just the way you are, so keep doing what you’re doing.' I’ve heard the message of God’s love summed up this way: 'God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way.'

"Accepting a sinner is not accepting their sin, but some people probably will take it that way. And? I think it’s worth the risk. How do I know that? Because it is a risk God is willing to take.

"God’s grace is so amazing, so outlandish, that some people do mistake it for an acceptance of sin. That’s the way it has always been. If you read Romans 6, you will see that it was happening two thousand years ago. This is not an excuse to withhold compassion and grace from someone in your life."

He goes on, "Philip Yancey said, 'While every other religion offers a way to earn approval, only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.'(1)

"If God is willing to offer a grace so amazing, even knowing that some will mistake it for acceptance of or license to sin, shouldn’t we also be willing to take that risk?

"We hope people don’t make that mistake, but we offer unconditional love regardless."

He then says, "The challenge is to not just accept that theoretically but to offer that to people in your life one at a time."

And that's what we need to do, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continueethought

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