The Woman at the Well

I often read the interaction between Jesus and the woman at the well who had been living in sin with wonder. He meets her at the well and asks for water. He respects her and connects with her even though He knows. The disciples even know that He’s talking with someone that might not align with their beliefs and they really don’t approve of the exchange. It’s pretty interesting because He doesn’t outright say to the woman…”you sinner you.” He tells her about living water. She wants what He tells her about. Then, here’s the tricky part. He tells her to go “bring your husband.” Jesus knows that she has more than one. Then she states, “I have no husband.” Still, He doesn’t say that she’s a sinner. He tells her the obvious, “you have five husbands…” She realizes that He knows her sin and He still hasn’t said “you sinner you.” He goes onto tell her “… a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” He seeks people who worship from the heart. I want to be like that. I want to be like the woman at the well who goes and shares with her town and the whole town is convicted. I want her heart. Her testimony moved them and then they heard from Jesus also.

How do I apply this interaction to my life? I don’t want to push away people by saying “you sinner you.” Plank in my own eye, right? Jesus loved first and never said a word about her sin until He connected and shared of the Gospel with the woman at the well. He stated what she had done but never said “you sinner you.” I, also, don’t want to cause anyone to stumble due to my actions or inactions. It’s difficult to respect and try to convict. Or is the convicting part God’s? He does encourage her to sin no more but it’s when she has accepted Him as her Savior. Jesus was actually really more heavy-handed with the pharisees and the money changers in the church.

So, it all comes down to our hearts, right? Where is my heart today? Please let me not discourage anyone or act self-righteous or judgmental as that drives people away and only discourages. Let me love like Jesus, Know Jesus more, and find peace in His name. My go-to verse, 2 Corinthians 4:18 So fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.