To Love Much

January 23, 2016

Devotions:

        “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little."” ‭Luke‬ ‭7:47‬ ‭NASB‬‬

        A principle in the new covenant is that our love for the Lord is based on how much we think we are forgiven.  If we think that we are pretty good and only need a little from God to make us acceptable to God then we will see ourselves as needing very little forgiveness. We judge by the outward appearances and so we clean up our outward performance pretty good. 

        “"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:10-14‬ ‭NASB‬‬

        No matter how good we seem to live, in our own efforts and righteousness we fall incomparibly short of God's perfection.  The difference between our sins before Jesus and the sins of what we would consider to be the worst sinner in insignificant compared to God.  God's love and forgiveness reaches to all.  As we realize that without God we fall totally short of God's glory. We all desparately needed a savior.  But by His grace we are saved. Without God we had no hope. Know that you were steeped in sin but by the blood of Jesus you have been washed and made whole.  What you could not do, God did for you.  There is no where you did three quarters of what was necessary and God did the rest.