Luke 7:44-48 (NKJV) “Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Christian Love Reflects a Debt Forgiven

Jesus told the tearful woman in today's Bible verse: "Your sins are forgiven." But it's not the number of tears we shed that brings forgiveness. It isn't even our promise to do better next time. It's because long, long ago the One who ate at Simon the Pharisee's table came to carry the burden of every sinner to Calvary's cross. On Easter morning His empty tomb proclaimed: "Your debt is paid in full!"

No matter how we feel inside or what others may think, each of us can say with the woman: "My debt of sin was great, but my Savior's forgiveness is even greater!" According to Jesus Christian love always reflects the debt of sins forgiven. "To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."

 

If you would have your love be the kind of love God wants it to be, then use the tools God gives you in His Word. Pause each day to size up the situation of your sin. Picture yourself before the Judgment throne of heaven where each sin is enormous and each is damning. Then see Jesus stepping to your side and completely lifting that burden from you as He assures you of His forgiveness.

 

The more aware you become of the true debt of your sin—from which you have been fully redeemed by your Savior—the more naturally God's love will flow in your life.

—From the Lutheran Spokesman