"Neither do I condemn thee"

This week we talked about the first nine chapters of Moroni. What strengthened my testimony from the reading this past week was from Moroni 8. In verse 8 it says, “Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick.” This reminded me how much the church is for sinners, and not for people that have already been perfected. Even though the Gospel of Christ is perfect, that doesn’t mean that the members are, but that they are striving for perfection through Christ. The most important pillars for perfection are Faith, Hope, and Charity, which Moroni discusses in chapter 7. Whenever a trait of Christ is talked about in scripture, it can be replaced with His name. When we do this with verse 45, it says, “And Christ suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not (His) own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” When we discussed this in class, I was amazed by the examples from Christ’s life that show forth this strength of character. One example I think of is how Christ was “not easily provoked” when He was taken by the centurions, after having suffered so long in Gethsemane. When Simon Peter drew His sword, and smote off Malchus’ ear, Christ did not simply stand there, and, as I would have done, probably run right then and there. However, Christ said to Simon Peter, “Put up thy sword into the sheath,” then, He went to Malchus, “touched his ear, and healed him.” Even after having suffered in Gethsemane, Christ still showed forth charity, even to one of His captors. Another example of when Christ showed perfect charity was when the woman who was taken in adultery was brought before Him. He didn’t accuse her, because He loved her. However, after all of her accusers left, He asked her “where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” After she replied that nobody had condemned her, He said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.” This is such a great lesson for our lives, because Christ will not condemn us when we are imperfect, if we come to Him, in humility, and we repent before Him.