Loving Much

09.24.14

Luke 7.47 “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

I have always struggled with this statement. It’s been hard for me to get my head wrapped around it – until today.

Here’s the issue: If I consider myself to be forgiven for little, then I probably don’t have a good idea of how much I need to be forgiven for. I probably have a higher opinion of myself than I ought and I probably have insulated myself and my worldview within a deadly thing called self-righteousness.

The woman’s problem was her sins – which Jesus said were many. She knew it, Jesus knew it, and so did Simon the Pharisee. Simon’s problem was his self-righteousness, which was huge. And Simon didn’t know it. The difficulty is sin often drives one in misery to do something about it. Not always, but sometimes. Self-righteousness causes one to ignore his sin and live in a la-la land of make-believe that keeps him from ever coming to grips with the truth about himself: his sin.

She knew her sin. Simon did not.

Most of the time I think the sinner isn’t as wretched as the woman. Most of the time I think the bigger issue is self-righteousness. Which then leads to self-excuse and ultimately, not dealing with the sin issue at all. Ignoring sin breeds a self-excuse that says, “Well, compared to others, I’m not so bad.”

And here is the kicker: “I don’t need God’s love because I’ve not done (unlike this puke) too much wrong.” The rationale: God has to love me because I am good, and I can prove it.

Just avoiding sin, although necessary, is not how I’m to live. Loving God who loves me despite my sin (and how much of it there is) and loving people is how I’m supposed to live. The difference is the focus. One focus is a lot easier to get along with than the other…

Father, You know how often I’ve held myself in high opinion. You know how often I’ve judged others because, to me, they were such sinners. O God! Forgive me! Lord, You have forgiven me much – may I humble myself to learn to love much. Amen.