How hard is it to show forgiveness? Do you grant it often, or is it easier for you to hold a grudge? I think about how we tend to create and measure the levels of offenses towards us and try to deal with them according to our standards.
I am reminded of this when I read the account in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus has been invited to a man’s house for dinner and the event goes like this:
“Then one of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of fragrant oil and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil.
When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him—she’s a sinner!”
Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Teacher,” he said, “say it.”
“A creditor had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.”
“You have judged correctly,” He told him. Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing My feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint My head with olive oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Those who were at the table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
You see when we judge others on the levels of their offenses, we become a “Simon.” We don’t focus on how amazing God’s forgiveness is, we focus on the grades of sin that we create.
To love much, we must forgive much. When we realize that we are all sinners in need of saving and focus on Jesus and what He has done for us, we begin to see that everyone is equal at the foot of the cross! What matters most is how we love and forgive one another.
To the one who has been holding that grudge, “Let it go”! Forgive much and love much, just like Jesus. If you cannot comprehend how forgiveness is even possible? Cry out to Jesus, and He will meet you where you are. I am so thankful that He is always ready to give us mercy and kindness. When we allow these things to flow through us, we become extensions of His grace to others.
My prayer in this next year is that we as believers in Christ, can get back to the basics and obey what Jesus commanded in John 13:34: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”
Amanda Patterson
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#amandapattersonblogs
