There is now no condemnation

There is now no adjudging

guilty of wrong

for those who are in Christ Jesus,

for we now live and walk

not after the dictates of the flesh,

but after the dictates of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1 Amplified

As the message renders this:

“All our fateful dilemmas

are resolved.

We no longer have to live

under a continuous,

low-lying grey cloud.

Because we have Christ’s

constant presence

We have Jesus power

in every situation.

The Spirit of life in Christ,

is like a strong wind,

God magnificently clears the air,

He frees us from a fated lifetime

of brutal tyranny

at the hands of the chief condemner

Satan

And his horde of crushing accusers”

So now we can Embrace Condemners

So now we can Accept Criticism

Granted; it’s not easy,

it’s an Acquired Taste

But let it be One of

Life’s Best Pleasures

God uses Critics for our good

God, knows our heart,

God uses critics to see things

in ourselves:

We get a glimpse of our

failings of faith

We detect where we’ve faltered

in practice,

We discover distorted emphases,

We get sightings on our blind spots,

We spy out our areas of neglect

We discern our attitudes

We spot actions contradictory

to stated commitments

But, we also spot strengths

We isolate significant contributions.

So when God uses critics to help us.

Although the criticism is mistaken,

There’s a grace in not leaping

too quickly to our defense.