As human beings, we are all sinful by nature; I think we can all agree on that. If you don't agree or are unaware that you were born with sin, news flash to ya, you're a sinner ha! But so am I! We all are. Theres no escaping this reality.

I was reading the book of Luke in the bible, thanks to a friend wanting to grow in our relationships with God by studying the Gospel of Luke, and got really excited while reading Luke 7:36-50. For all of you bible thumpers and holy people who know Gods word like the back of your hand, you'll quickly recognize that this is the story about Jesus being anointed by a sinful woman. For the rest of us who man not be familiar with this story, don't worry I'll explain, but I encourage you to go read it for yourself.

The story starts by Jesus hanging out with some Pharisees during dinner. This is where I picture Jesus just laying back, relaxing and having a good time like we do with our friends. Good food, good company, life is good. Meanwhile, there is a sinful woman (her name is not given) who hears of Jesus being in town for dinner and decides to go to him with an alabaster jar of perfume. This woman is a wreck because of the sinful life she was living and begins to weep at the feet of Jesus out of thankfulness and reverent awe of His wonder. Scripture says, "As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." (verse 38) Okay I know this sounds super weird to think about, but you have to recognize that during this time her act would have been considered improper, but was seen as great courage by Jesus to be honored in this way.

Because of this act by the sinful woman, the pharisees get their panties in a bunch and think "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of a woman she is - that she is a sinner." (verse 39) So Jesus is like Yo Simon, let me tell you a story. He begins to give this parable, "Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" (verse 41-42) Simon smartly replies with, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven."

This is the part of the story where you think, "oh duh! The more sin in your life, the more you are forgiven and the more you will be thankful." Or at least thats what I thought the first time I heard this story years back. So stupidly I thought that I needed to sin more in order to be forgiven more. But thats not what Jesus is saying. Both the "sinful woman" and the "righteous pharisees" were equally sinful in the eyes of Jesus. The difference between the two was that the woman acknowledged her sin and showed her thankfulness for forgiveness in acts of praise. We see this in verses 44-47 as Jesus is blasting Simon by pointing out that he didn't give him water for his feet or a kiss or oil on his head when entering the house, whereas the woman who acknolwedged her sin was on the ground cleaning his feet with her own tears and kissing them and pouring perfume on them. The last thing Jesus says to Simon is, "But whoever has been forgiven little loves little" and then he forgives the woman of her sins and tells her to go in peace.

I can't remember if I was at a youth Dare2Share training or if I heard this in church, but someone told me that acknowledging how much sin is in your life allows you to recognize how forgiven you are and produces love! Thats exactly what this scripture is telling us! If any of you have read my articles over the past few weeks, I have been extremely honest in the struggles I've been facing and the trials I have been going through spiritually. During this semester, I have struggled to enjoy reading Gods word because I see how much I fall short. I read the laws and commands and think, "I really suck. I can never follow all of these. No matter how hard I try I fall short literally everyday in some way." God has been showing me how sinful I am and that I am nothing without him so that it will lead to repentance, receiving forgiveness and producing love that I get to share with others. Its honestly such a beautiful thing.

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven...Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:48, 50