Daily Devotional: Closer to God Every Day

Day 62: We're All Hester Prynne

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. -Matthew 6:14-15

My English class is currently reading The Scarlet Letter. With complicated language, many uses of parallelism and allusions, and many Biblical references, the book is definitely enlightening. If you're not familiar with the classic novel, it follows a young woman named Hester who commits adultery against her husband and soon gives birth to a child named Pearl. Because of her sins, she is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet "A" on her clothing. All villagers mock and look down upon Hester and her acts against God. They even place her on a scaffold to publicly ridicule and denounce her. Here's the shocking thing: the villagers are all "Christians". In a village that is supposedly devoted to God, Godly attributes are clearly lacking in this community. Aren't Christians supposed to love and accept those who sin? Aren't we all sinners?  If we are in fact all sinners, what makes us better than someone whose sins are publicly known? These are challenging questions. As Christians, it is not our job to look down upon others who fall because the truth of the matter is that there is only one who is perfect: Jesus. Let Him be the final judge. Who are we to play his role? We all wear scarlet letters of some sort. We have no right to point at someone else’s and proudly proclaim that ours is “not as bad”. He calls us to respect and encourage those who commit transgressions! If you wore the scarlet letter, how would you feel if your sins were displayed for all to ridicule. It would hurt. Don’t play the role of God. He doesn’t need our help. Play the role of Jesus. He’s the forgiver of sinners. Be that role.

-Katelyn Kubosh