When Accusations Beat You Down, God Can Pick You Up. How You Can Follow Jesus into Freedom.
“Why did you!?”
“How could you?!”
“You’re such a ______!!!”
“If you weren’t a ______ this would have never happened!!”
Have you been stabbed with accusations like these? Or worse? I have.
No one makes it through a few decades of life without being tagged by accusations.
In the age of social media, false news, misinformation, and snap judgments, accusers hide out in high-rise buildings like snipers, just waiting for the right moment to puncture your heart without you ever knowing where the shot came from.
It’s disorienting. Being accused causes something instinctive and visceral to dominate your being. At least for a time.
Why?
Because accusations are like darts laced with demonic poison. They must be dealt with. Jesus sees. He knows. He can handle it all.
Wanna see how?
Trust Jesus to Sort out the Mess
Anyone with a shred of self-awareness knows some accusations are valid.
Shoot, in some ways, we have to admit that we should actually be accused of far more because we’ve gotten away with things no one has seen.
We’re not perfect. We have bad days, make bad decisions, do stupid, selfish things.
At the same time, we are accused of things that are, at best, unfair and, at worst, untrue.
It seems to me that the accusations fired at us fall on a spectrum.
But that’s not even half the story, is it? Because someone can accuse you of something that may be accurate, but they have vindictive, destructive motives.
You feel that, right?
When you do, it’s hard to even address reality because when you’re bullied into a corner, survival instincts kick in.
Did you know that accusations are one of the primary weapons that the Devil uses to steal, kill, and destroy?
In Hebrew, the word Satan literally means “accuser.” Check out this Bible passage.
“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down.
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them!
Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short. ”
Here's the deal. Accusations are one of Hell’s most powerful and persistent weapons formed against you.
This is one of the primary reasons accusations can have a disproportionate impact on our mental health.
You’re not going to win that battle on your own. We’re not strong enough.
But Jesus has won, and you can stand in His victory. Or better, you can kneel. Like this lady.
How Jesus Disarms Your Accusers
In John 8, the religious leaders try to trap Jesus by seeing how He handles accusations.
(By the way, religious, pharisaical accusations may be the most evil.)
Take a minute and read this story. Pay attention to how you feel. Not what you think. Yet. Just be attentive to how your heart reacts to Jesus.
“Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.
“Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.
Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger.
When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men.
Only he was left, with the woman in the center.
When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, Lord,” she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
A Bit of Background to Provide Some Clarity
This amazing event took place on what was technically a Sabbath day because it was the day after the Feast of Tabernacles.
Scholarly smarty-pants point this out because of how Jesus is writing in the dirt. We don’t know what Jesus is writing. I think He wants it that way.
What we do know is that He was following not only the Law, but the current interpretation of it. God wanted people to rest on the Sabbath – no work allowed!
So the religious leaders defined what was work and what was not. Like writing. Writing was considered work – but with one exception.
You could write in the dirt.
Why?
Because if you write in the dirt, it won’t last. It will blow away, get stepped on, messed up, and so forth.
Jesus, then, with the silent stroke of His finger, demonstrates that He not only knows the Law, He knows what their interpretation of it is! He knows it better than they do.
The religious leaders clearly don’t care about the Law. They were using it and people for their own selfish gain.
Holding “court” on a Sabbath day had to have been considered work, right?
And my goodness! Can you imagine being in this woman’s position?
She’s alone.
Her life is on the line.
She will either be murdered by a mob or forced to live in utter shame and complete isolation after this.
She’s surrounded by bloodthirsty men – naked and ashamed.
Jesus stands in front of her. With one sentence, He changes the game. “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”
The shame was shifted. The anger was redirected. The hostility and hate were aimed at a new target.
It wasn’t finished.
If anything, the demonic vindictiveness was fueled.
The accusers would come back. With a bigger stick and more dangerous stones. Jesus would be ready.
Relieved by Love and Released into Life
With the hate-filled accusers gone, the eyes of Love focus on the woman.
I just love how Jesus treats this woman with so much dignity and value.
He doesn’t excuse her sin. That’s huge. He treats her, and us, with the assumption that we can live noble, healthy, peaceful lves.
He invites her to own her freedom. “Has anyone condemned you?” She affirms that, despite being accused, she has not been condemned.
He invites her to live with dignity and joy. “Leave your life of sin.” I am absolutely convinced that Jesus’ tone was not basically saying, “look. You got off the hook this time. Knock it off. Stop being naughty. Or next time I won’t bail you out.”
This is not God’s heart. This is NOT the way He speaks to us.
No. NO. NOOOOOOO!!!!!!
I believe, deep in my bones, that God is saying, “Oh my sweet daughter, you don’t have to live like this. You don’t have to sell yourself. You don’t have to let other people use and dismiss you. You are not an object for anyone’s pleasure or target for anyone’s wrath. You are a child of God. Endowed with worth, strength, beauty, kindness, generosity, and goodness. Don’t settle. Be free to live in the love of God!”
I have unshakable confidence that this is how Jesus spoke to this woman – because this is how He’s spoken to me when I’ve been naked and ashamed in front of my accusers.
Do you want Jesus to speak to you like this? He will. In fact, if you’re willing to receive this, you can have an even greater encounter with God than this woman did.
The Heart of the Law Upheld and Fulfilled
Jesus didn’t only draw in the dirt to demonstrate His superior understanding of the Law – He went to the cross to fulfill it.
This woman was guilty. So was the guy who was never questioned. And the accusers. So are you. And me.
Jesus carried every accusation that has ever been hurled at us and took it to the cross with Him. He was crucified carrying our shame so that we could be born again, filled with His Spirit.
We have an even better word spoken to us than this woman did.
She was “not condemned.” Which is amazing. But you are forgiven. Which is even better.
She was told to leave a life of sin. Which is so liberating. But you are invited to live in the Kingdom.
Her human accusers were silenced. But our cosmic accuser has been eternally conquered.
This is how you deal with the accusations that come flying at you.
You go to Jesus.
Even if people drag you to Him. Let Him deal with the accusers.
Unload the Accusations into His Loving Arms
Are you ready to release the accusations that have been harassing, haunting, and taunting you?
You may want to carve out some time and find a quiet, peaceful place to interact with God.
When you’re ready, here are a few steps you can take to let the Holy Spirit heal your heart and disarm the enemy.
Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal the accusations you’ve internalized. These could be legit or exaggerated. They may even come from your own heart. Regardless, take time in God’s presence and let Him speak. Write down the accusations you’re carrying.
Next, ask Jesus how He wants to deal with the accusations and your accusers. Write it down. Draw it out.
Last, ask God to show you what He wants to give you in place of the accusations. You might sense a feeling, see a word, remember a Scripture passage, or something else. God loves to exchange our despair for rejoicing.
In all of this, we’re applying the gospel in tender yet potent ways.
We’re inviting Jesus to come get everything His blood paid for!
Streams of Living Water Will Burst from Within
The encounter Jesus had with this woman and her accusers is amazing in its own right. But it’s even more remarkable when you read the story in context.
The day before this event, Jesus just said that if anyone is thirsty and comes to Him, then streams of living water will overflow from within them. (John 7:37 - 38).
The woman in John 8 came to Jesus, even if she was forced. She was thirsty, desperate, weak, and vulnerable.
In His amazing, powerful, tender, redeeming, healing, holy love – He removes the filth she’d been contaminated with and replaces it with living water. Pure. Clean. Potent. Vibrant.
She will never be the same.
You won’t either. I know I’m not. When Jesus saw me at my absolute lowest, in the middle of a devastated life – and looked at me with love?
I was undone. Wrecked. Redone. Put back together on a solid foundation of the grace of God with a burning passion for loving Jesus that made every lesser love melt away.
Don’t settle. If you’re burdened by shame, harassed by accusations, broken by the cruelty of others – bring it all to Jesus. He has promised that streams of living water will flow from within you.
He will show you just what to do with every accusation you face.
Empowered to Address Accusations and Accusers
Did you notice how swiftly Jesus defended the woman? He can defend you, too. He’s eager to.
Jesus is fully capable, ready, and willing to handle every accusation from every accuser you face.
If the accusations have some merit, you can own your stuff, admit where you’re wrong, and ask for forgiveness – because Jesus has forgiven you and will never leave you nor forsake you.
When the accusations are unfair or unfounded, you can hide in Jesus.
He knows what it feels like to be blasted unjustly.
He can guide you in the nuance of knowing when to defend yourself and when to just walk away from a toxic situation or relationship.
When the accusations are in your head – when the enemy of your soul won’t shut his ugly mouth – you can take up your authority in Christ, and command the devil to leave you alone.
As it is written, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Leave Your Old, False Self and Enjoy the Fullness of Life in Jesus
During a home church gathering, we reflected on and prayed through this story. One person rhetorically asked:
“When Jesus told the woman to leave her life of sin, do you think she gathered up the stones that her accusers dropped?”
You don’t have to either. Leave it with Jesus. Dance into freedom with the Love of your life.
Your case is dismissed.
