“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”  Luke 7:47 

“When we merely say that we are bad, the “wrath” of God seems a barbarous doctrine; as soon as we perceive our badness, it appears inevitable, a mere corollary from God’s goodness. To keep ever before us the insight derived from such a moment as I have been describing, to learn to detect the same real inexcusable corruption under more and more of its complex disguises, is therefore indispensable to a real understanding of the Christian faith. This is not, of course, a new doctrine. I am merely trying to get my reader (and, still more, myself) over a pons asinorum — to take the first step out of fools’ paradise and utter illusion. But the illusion has grown, in modern times, so strong, that I must add a few considerations tending to make the reality less incredible. 

1. We are deceived by looking on the outside of things. We suppose ourselves to be roughly not much worse than Y, whom all acknowledge for a decent sort of person, and certainly (though we should not claim it out loud) better than the abominable X. Even on the superficial level we are probably deceived about this. Don’t be too sure that your friends think you as good as Y. The very fact that you selected him for the comparison is suspicious: he is probably head and shoulders above you and your circle. But let us suppose that Y and yourself both appear “not bad”. How far Y’s appearance is deceptive, is between Y and God. His may not be deceptive: you know that yours is. Does this seem to you a mere trick, because I could say the same to Y and so to every man in turn? But that is just the point. Every man, not very holy or very arrogant, has to “live up to” the outward appearance of other men: he knows there is that within him which falls far below even his most careless public behavior, even his loosest talk. In an instant of time — while your friend hesitates for a word — what things pass through your mind? We have never told the whole truth. We may confess ugly facts — the meanest cowardice or the shabbiest and most prosaic impurity — but the tone is false. The very act of confessing — an infinitesimally hypocritical glance — a dash of humor — all this contrives to dissociate the facts from your very self.” (Redefining Sin, The Problem of Pain, Human Wickedness, from Preparing For Easter; Fifty Devotional Readings from C.S. Lewis) 

Without a daily reminder of why grace is so necessary for us, we can be lulled into forming an exaggerated perspective of our own worth before God. It’s no wonder, then, that our worship is often lacking the kind of passionate display our love for G-d should project – that our prayers seem to lack true introspection – and that our treatment of each other lacks the love and unconditional nature it so evidently needs.

Let’s take the lesson personally. True ongoing love for Jesus flows from a heart that is gripped by the awareness of how much sin envelopes us, and how much we have been forgiven. When we grasp both the depth of our sin and the depth of G-d’s grace in Jesus Christ, then we’ll be looking for ways to express our love and gratitude every moment of every day. Would the “worst of sinners” feel loved by you, or would they sense that you are more likely to condemn and ostracize them?

Has your goodness become a habit, or does it thrive as a response of love and gratitude for all that Jesus has done for you?

Pastor Dave