The Motivation for Change

Someone once asked me if I played baseball growing up. The short answer: yes. The longer version? Let’s just say my dream of playing for the Cubs ended in 9th grade — thanks to an indoor tryout because the baseball field was covered in snow. The same tryout may have involved a bad throw shattering a window.

While I don’t completely blame Coach Birdrose for ending my dream of playing for the Cubs, he did make the right call cutting me from the team. It hurt at the time, but looking back, I get it.

In sports, if you want to improve, the motivation is clear: win. Beat the competition. Get better or get cut. That’s how the system works.

But when it comes to our spiritual lives, it’s completely different.

In fact, one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is this: God’s grace is the best motivation for pursuing holiness.

This matters more than we realize. Because maybe you’ve spent your whole life trying to be “good enough” for God. Or maybe you’ve already discovered that you never could be — and now you’re trying to help others understand the same.

Whichever side you’re on, John 8 offers a stunning picture of how Jesus uses grace — not fear or shame — to transform people.

A Trap Disguised as Righteousness

In John 8, Jesus is teaching at the temple when a group of religious leaders drag in a woman caught in adultery.

They aren’t looking for justice. They’re looking for a trap.

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

Here’s the tension: If Jesus agrees to punish her, he’s violating Roman law, which didn’t permit the Jews to carry out executions. But if he lets her go, he’s ignoring the Law of Moses. It’s a lose-lose situation. Or so they thought.

Instead of answering immediately, Jesus does something unexpected. He kneels and starts writing in the dirt.

No one knows what he wrote. But eventually, he stands and delivers one of the most well-known lines in all of Scripture:

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

And just like that, every accuser melts away — oldest to youngest — until only Jesus and the woman are left.

Truth and Grace in the Same Breath

Jesus finally speaks directly to her — something none of the religious leaders bothered to do.

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Let that sink in: Jesus doesn’t excuse her sin. But he also doesn’t shame her.

He leads with grace, not guilt.

He doesn’t say, “Clean up your life and maybe I’ll forgive you.” He says, “You’re forgiven. Now let that forgiveness change how you live.”

That’s the power of grace.

Why Grace Changes Us

We often think guilt is a better motivator. If I feel bad enough, maybe I’ll stop messing up. But guilt leads to hiding. Grace leads to healing.

Paul captures this in Titus 2: “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness … and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.” (Titus 2:11–12)

In other words, grace isn’t soft. It’s not permission to keep sinning. It’s the very thing that gives us the strength to change, from the inside out.

“Be Always Beginning”

John Sullivan, a Jesuit priest who spent his life caring for the poor, once said: “Be always beginning. Let the past go. The saints were always beginning — that’s how they became saints.”

That’s what grace does. It lets us begin again. Every day.

No guilt trip. No stone in God’s hand with your name on it.

Let me leave you with two simple invitations:

1. Put down your rocks. If you follow Jesus, remember that it was his kindness — not condemnation — that brought you into his family. Don’t use shame on others when God used mercy on you.

2. Put your trust in Jesus. If you haven’t yet surrendered your life to him, stop trying to be “good enough.” You never will be. That’s the whole point of grace. Jesus isn’t waiting for you to clean yourself up. He’s waiting to forgive you — and help you begin again.

Let grace do what guilt never could. Let it change you. And then you can help change the world around you.