NOT GUILTY!
the Saving GRACE of God’s Redeeming LOVE
April 12th, 2023
FORGIVEN
Luke 12:48b, ‘For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.’ (NKJV)
I always think of this verse instead as, ‘To whom much is forgiven, much is required.’ That’s me. I’ve been forgiven so much; therefore, I know the requirement for my life is great. There is no time left for nonsense and waste. It is valuable to use what has been given on my behalf to help someone else. To share with others who walk in shame that the guilt can be lifted, and they can truly be set free.
Today, there is so much entitlement. There is so much anger. So much judgement and unforgiveness. But, as a child of God, we don’t get to act this way. We aren’t permitted to even think accordingly. Everyone parades around on pious stilts, looking far beneath themselves, at those who they choose to see as shriveled and non-existent. If we are looking through God’s lens, however, we must see others as God sees them, as He sees you and me. The compassion swimming in His eyes and leaking out onto humanity should change all of us. But seldom it does. And seldom do we look through anything other than our own view, no matter how jaded and broken it might be.
A man slowly took his time crossing the avenue the other day, his old dog hobbling as much as he did. They were both filthy, at least a season of growth and dirt and grime like baggage on his back. He tugged a forlorn wagon behind him in his other hand, the thrump-thrump evidence of a flattened tire. He was just as flat and slow. We waited as they crossed; I found myself crawling out of the judgey corner of my own mind, a sigh hovering on my lips. Suddenly, the thought escaped me: to whom much is forgiven, much is required. Embarrassed, my humanity tattled on itself. I at once saw him through a different gaze. I imagined the guilt which clung to his back, weighing him down, the shame like a mixer for the pain. When did I get so glorified that I would sigh in exasperation because it cost me thirty extra seconds to wait for someone to manage the crosswalk?!
To the woman sleeping on the park bench and to the man buried beneath layers of newspapers to keep warm; to the addict trying desperately to hide behind a sign so no one can see him die inside; to the girl selling herself to feed her babies; to the old man hobbling slowly across a busy street…to all of you: Jesus died so you don’t have to; Jesus lives so you can! He is more than enough. And you are too, more than enough. You are more than enough. You matter. Jesus loves you. And because you matter, He came to set you free and break the chains that bind you. All your shame is buried in the nail prints in His hands, for eternity.
God’s Loving Kindness Leads Me to Repentance
