In John 8, the woman caught in adultery, often catches my attention. Her story highlights circumstances when human nature is not at its best.

With her moral failure on public display, she lost her privacy and her dignity the moment she was exposed. Her accusers rushed to condemn her. It gave them an opportunity to kill two of their annoyances with one stone.

With rocks in their hands, they aimed to punish her for her sin and trap Jesus in His compassion — at the same time.

But they were about to discover, more would be lost that day. With a few finger strokes of the Savior, the crowd would lose their ability to judge her or trap Him:

“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?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. – John 8:4-8 NIV

Hearing His wisdom and knowing their sin, the crowd had no choice but to leave. The oldest among them led the way. Because if sin was to be judged, everyone would have a turn.

Disheveled and afraid, the woman found her dignity in that dust. Whatever Jesus wrote, it silenced her accusers and affirmed her — at the same time.

Whenever I’m facing embarrassment or shame, dignity starts to feel scarce.  But I’ve learned, Christ writes in the dirt of what pains us and what shames us. His word restores our dignity in the dust too.

This post is part of my "Lessons I've Learned About Life (so far)" series for the #write31days challenge. To find out more start here.