Judged For Not Getting up

During a Fox TV News segment Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to Germany, was asked if he was angry with a liberal news reporter for her caustic comments. The reporter later bowed to peer pressure and publicly apologized. Grenell accepted the apology as sincere noting we all make mistakes. He said, “I don’t judge people for falling; but I do judge them for not getting up.” I see a spiritual application to Grenell’s thought. We all sin, but rather than being judged for the sin, God gives us an opportunity to get up   — to repent, confess, ask for forgiveness and apologize. The prophet Nathan went to David after David committed adultery with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer for forgiveness and cleansing, “For I know transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge” (Psalm 51:3-4 NIV).