I hope you are well on this Weekly encouragement! Day! It has turned a bit colder here, but I’m grateful for the warmth of the last several days in the middle of our winter. Cold causes me to think of being a little shut in, maybe a little secluded. I’ve experienced this some, I’m sure many of us have experienced this, especially through 2020 and a global shut down of some form. Wherever we were. This isn’t totally today’s story in the Weekly encouragement!, but I feel like it can be the background. Condemnation is the topic. How does this relate? I’ll explain. First, thank you for joining me for today’s Weekly encouragement! episode. It is a delight to be with you. Being a little secluded or shut in can precipitate anxious feelings or “down” feelings. I think the tendency of condemnation can be a result of these types of feelings, though really condemnation is appropriately labeled as sin, such as the warning we have in scripture to not be judgmental. Sin is a hard word but I want to help us see that sin is basically anything that keeps us from right relationships with God and others. And condemnation prevents this ability to be in right relationships. We can begin to break free from condemnation. The scripture is clear, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”! This refers to the fact that when we put our faith in Jesus, the righteousness of Jesus covers us and the sin we have committed, you and me, God forgives us and we walk freely. This doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences in this life as sometimes we face consequences in this life. But we are not condemned by God. This, therefore, is a gift we are called to pass on to others and not be condemning towards others. Nevertheless, we find ourselves speaking to others in condemning ways or we express condemning attitudes toward others. Sometimes just by not talking with others and thereby expressing a judgmental attitude toward others. We may have been faced with this reality in our moments of isolation, or being shut in, during the pandemic as this isolation can foster retrospect and evaluation. Did you feel like you had times of evaluation during the pandemic? This message offers an opportunity to align giving up condemnation with a current structural calendar practice called “Lent”. Traditionally, lent offers the opportunity to sacrifice something, or to give up something for a season. The thought of giving up condemnation is for a life change, not just a season, but it begins with this season of lent, and encourages this with a potential for positive change for the rest of our lives because we will be able to experience benefits of better relationships among other benefits you will experience. I’m excited to share this with you and to experience the more abundant life through practicing life without condemnation towards others and myself! Almost unspoken in these comments is that we we can benefit greatly from not condemning ourselves, too. What a wonderful journey to begin this lent season with. Please know I’m praying for you because I love you.