Do you ever feel like you don’t measure up? Like you’re not really good enough?
One morning, not too long ago, I was starting to catalog all the flaws I have, all the ways I’m a disappointment, all the things I wish I could have done or shouldn’t have done.
Shall we call them sins? The best definition of sin I’ve ever heard is that sin is what separates us from God. Those niggling fears, the smallness of character, the lack of trust.
But how was this flawed person—me—going to go for a remake? So much of the stuff I was thinking about was past and gone. It wouldn’t even make for a good TV show. The video screening in my head was enough to make me squirm.
Then I remembered the story in the Bible of the woman—a sinner she is called—who came to Jesus in a Pharisee’s house and poured a bottle of expensive ointment on His feet, wiping them with her tears.
Simon, the Pharisee, was not amused. Why would Jesus let this woman, this sinner, even touch Him?
Jesus knew what was going through Simon’s mind. He asked: If a lender forgave the debts of someone who owed enough to pay 500 people versus someone who owed enough money to pay 50, which of them would love him more?
A no brainer. The one with the bigger debts.
“You didn’t anoint My head with oil,” Jesus said to Simon, “but she has poured perfumed oil on My feet. This is why I tell you that her many sins have been forgiven so she has shown great love.”
Our massive smallness when turned over to Jesus can turn into outrageous growth.
Feeling kind of rotten? Think of it as an opportunity. When you feel forgiven for a lot, you’ve got room for lots of love. Pass it on.
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