Forgiven Much

"But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  This phrase comes from the story found in Luke 7:36-50 when Jesus was invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee.  As Jesus reclined at the table, a woman came into the Pharisee's house.  She came uninvited, unannounced, and stood behind Jesus, weeping.  Then she came and bowed herself down, and began to wash Jesus' feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.  She began kissing His feet, and with the flask of fragrant oil she brought, she anointed His feet.  The Pharisee, observing this scene, said to himself that if Jesus were really a prophet, He would know who this woman was, and what kind of a woman she was.  The woman was known as a sinner, without doubt a prostitute, an outcast of society.  She would not have been welcome in the Pharisee's house, and he would have had nothing to do with her.  However, Jesus does know who the woman is, and He also knows what is on Simon's mind.  So He says, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  Jesus first tells a parable about a creditor who has two debtors, one owing 500 denarii, and the other owing 50.  One owes 10 more than the other, but when neither could pay, he forgave them both.  Now Jesus asks, "Which one will love him more?"  And Simon answers, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  So Jesus says to Simon, "You have rightly judged."  "Do you see this woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  The Pharisee showed no love for Jesus, and no love for the woman.  The woman loved Jesus with all her heart, and now had a heart of pure love for others.  When we know how much we have been forgiven, we will love Jesus, and we will love people.  May my heart always become more like the woman's, and less like the Pharisee's.

If I have been forgiven much, how does that affect my life?